Envy Of Flight Poem by Akham Nilabirdhwaja Singh

I recollect with love my mother's steps
in the courtyard at dusk,
a lantern for prayer,
while bullock cart creaked in the distance.

A chigonglei plant long not seen growing at the edge of a paddy field beside a lonesome country road.

A lone crow cawed recently out of the blue-
not heard and seen for a long time
In the land of his birth,
from where he came, where he lives.

Egrets crossed the brae of Nongmaijing hill
landing and walking through the barren paddy.
How long they will keep coming?

A lone bird spurred into the azure sky,
flying farther and farther until at last unseen.

I stood watching him,
my mind fragmented, unfinished,
envying his flight.