The Earth Rescued from Parrots Poem by Ashok Vajpeyi

Our house lies on the route
the parrots take
to go to the jungle
and to come back from there.

Green lines of countless parrots
go to and fro in the sky above us
and a few of them
even stop to rest on our trees.
We live in the city,
how could we know
from what jungle to what forest
from what daybreak to what workplace
the parrots go every day -

often my daughter and I
place bets
on which flock of parrots
will stop or not stop on our trees.

the parrots don't see us
because their sights are always
trained on the trees and their fruit.

The parrots
turn into a green sky
and cover the earth.
the parrots leave the earth behind
like half-eaten fruit.

My daughter
chases after the parrots,
to save the fruit,
the earth.

In the sky, in the dark
the parrots vanish into the distance.

My daughter is left standing
shining with green
caressing the earth, comforting it.