You Can Win But Can You Own A Forest? Poem by PARTHA SARATHI PAUL

You want to own this forest.
Okay. Go and own it.

The piece of land will be yours.
The desultorily or densely crowded trees will be yours.
The fruits of all sorts, if there are or will be any, will be yours.
All the dead boughs, twigs and leaves gathered in the shadows
on the ground, once you own it, will be yours.
Some or many timbers, if you love to kill..., will be only yours.

You want to be a master like the selfish giant?
You can posses a land but a forest is not just a piece of land.

You can not control the birds that may love to visit
and love to stay here in summer or winter.
You can not control the golden light
raining into its every nook and corner.
You can not control the wild weeds at the feet
of some or many trees or anywhere they love to grow like themselves.
And creepers what will entwine their chosen trunks
like soft ropes around the chosen bodies
will not hear your voice and will not care your eyes.

Some half buried and half upright rocks

will wear emerald moss cover along with old trunks.

You can not stay up all nights
and stand a guard like a night guard.
A forest as a part of nature knows well how to play with the moon!
And darkness knows how to spell a wild magic.

A forest is not a plant in a pot placed in your chosen spot.