Yellow Semals Poem by Jasbir Chatterjee

Thup. Thup. Thup.
Slowly, gently, with every gust of breeze,
Those huge, lovely, Semal flowers
Kept dropping from the tall, slim, stately tree.
Sometimes alone.
Sometimes in pairs,
And sometimes in threes, fours, and more…
And I watched, mesmerized…

These are yellow Semals,
I told myself.
I always thought Semals
Were only red or maroon.
Why hadn't I noticed them earlier?
I wondered
As here I have lived,
For more than 3 decades!

While I clicked pictures,
I felt hostile stares
Stinging and piercing my back.
I turned around to find an agitated old man.
He began, "What will you do with these photos?
Are you from MCD? You want to get this tree removed? "
"No, Uncle, I am a writer. I will write about them
With the hope that there will be more of them in future.

A woman appeared from the house nearby.
"They are such a terrible nuisance.
They keep falling day in and day out.
They turn my verandah into a mess.
Day in and day out,
I keep brooming,
The old man shot back, "Do you know that these flowers make a great sabzi?
These city people are unaware of so many things."

With one last look
At the tall tree
Standing proudly,
Its head held high
In dignified silence,
I turned
And began my walk
Towards home…