By: Rehanul Hoque

Leaves became yellow and then shed in winter.
Scarcity of Magnesium and lack of water turned leaves pale enough
to shed, this is what I knew.
But I loved the trees without knowing all these
Like them soared high enough to look at the blue sky
in the eye of an autumn, at a time when sky appears as the canvas of
an eminent painter!
Wherever the painter put a scratch,
it turned as magnificent work of art ending up in burgeoning stars
with the fall of day.
Some of them are Sun, Hercules or Bernadi
Some Sirius, Jupiter and Mira
Without pondering, without knowing in depth I loved them,
tried to cover them with my entity.
Standing on the brink of time and grand expansion
Any endeavor to tap into if anyone strains ear to the supplication
of this petty creature, proved to be Hebrew.

Here, the serenity found from morning dews
every tiny movement of a sheaf of paddy
little sunshine from everyday Sun, twittering birds,
melody of the southern wind and
a small drop between waves in stagnant water-
replicate but my sense, imitate my quivering
A crescendo of thrill floods my entire being.

Throughout life I have borne the soft touch of dew-drenched grass
sniffed the extremely rotten mud
heard the birds as they flutter wings
imbibed the keenness of voluptuous beings
tasted fructose, acid, minerals and vitamin
It was tough to catch a glimpse of Bacteria and Virus
But I saw them-
Saw their empire, felt the way they frowned at others
Indeed, who will believe these animals of undecaying youth
have been reigning Antarctica for
ten million years!
In contrast, Variola and influenza were familiar characters
Even to this day there is a scuffle taking place between us
I have seen each of the hollow cells of a bird
Once I had to navigate lonely as Curlew-
In the long rugged route with no shelter, leisure and food
constantly the thought of earth came to mind
its generous wind, unfathomed sea, vast wilderness, extended greenery
the Sun ripping apart the horizon to find a burial ground;
Amid agitated surges of ocean, with scary lightning and thunderclap
I was reminded – who I am.

Looking for a reply, I found every lightning ready with a response
Intense darkness all around and no sound
at times patches of light and shade,
too rare a sunrise, a twilight-
I am a shimmering light in the midst.
My past and future- absolute darkness
Albeit the darkness is not blank here, full instead.
Squeezed by a terrible gravitas, I degenerate into Spaghetti
or a marble of immense density
and get exposed to the end of the tunnel to a universe borderless.
The euglena, amoeba and female genital are available in that world as well
but here unique is the test
I felt charismatic nowhere other than this place
The beauty, fragrance and color in things and beings:
The flavor of aryl in each of the litchis
broiling magma effusions from bottom of the ocean –
blobs that spread all around
the attractive sky with lustre playing in 70° North and South
radio wave and electric wave raining down ceaselessly on earth
the dazzling beauty of Great Barrier Reef
the making of royal jelly to feed the queen bee,
the queen’s tune and tempo in performing a dance
the moment the microscopic tentacle of tropical Chironex was felt
with a burning reaction and
A terrible whirlpool created by Buaya darat-
Everything so unique!

Quite often one is moved by civilizations and their glories-
the Ajtec, Sind, Agean, Babylonian, Vedic and the Pyramid
How the Cheops of 490 feet- its (Area÷2) × Altitude
matches with a π (22/7) !
How mathematics speaks beyond silica and lime!
Reaching to the pinnacle of glory although
a brain of 100 billion neurons passes into oblivion,
the manifold Gamechanger ruling over eternity
remains unchanged through ages
That is the power that I wish I could get lost
to repay all that I owe to-
every single dewdrop, sweet sunshine in winter
all the wonders that the earth boasts of, yellow leaves of the tree
the known and unknown fancy and
each of the letters tinged with black.