Mother More Than A Hunter Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

From freedom of forest to four walls sent,
Leaving her pride and young cubs she had come,
The beast of prey to city zoo was lent,
She was a mother, now mothered by some.

Whilst once relaxed she nigh cool and content
In enclosure open to birds of wings,
Right over, her preferred place of resting,
A pair of owls nested in a tree vent.

Their young chick that had not feathered to fly,
Poor thing, fell plonk upon her resting paws,
And one would think, its end was more than close,
But bare one glance, she closed again her eye.

Perhaps hungry enough she was not quite,
Or post noon rest ruled on her mind the more,
Perhaps not worth the trouble smallish bite,
Or chic's death was not destined at her door.

If not now well soon enough one might think,
Her fate perhaps was fastened to the cage
And well around the corner in a blink,
Her destiny had only turned a page.

Not too friendly but she still behaved well,
Benign, innocent of any evil,
The fowl far too young was frightened to feel,
And it loitered around freely at will.

She was a beast of prey but mother too,
Or Gujarat lions have learned to like peace,
Truth is: rearing life is benign virtue,
Birth of babies brings forth heavenly bliss.

It scarce could fly, but hopped away from paws,
Filtering thro the bars freedom to seek,
I wonder still where her fair freedom was:
Not far from cage but within, O poor chick!
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I see a lioness in a zoo blissfully oblivious of a callow chick of owl by her side fallen from its nest in the tree above. What could happen was obvious, but it was not to be.
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Happenings | 06.06.10 |