THE FOLLOWING POEM WAS SELECTED IN WINGWORD POETRY PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST.

Majestic, mysterious, and mighty.

Some green, some blue, and a hint of purple.

Crowned grey from dawn to dusk,

You offered a symphony, I may have never heard.

An obscure echo and voices from a distance.

A murmur in the wind; of transitory freedom, of vague liberty.

An absolute abyss that you are-

You absorbed me in the aura of your fresh and crisp,

You deluded me, with your grounds unshaken and head unbowed.

Standing tall with heaven as your cape.

You stand taller, taller than the sky.

Like a vigilante- watching and protecting.

Like a father- struggling but smiling.

We’ve cut you, We’ve harassed you, We’ve torn you— apart.

You protected, You nurtured, You watched carefully as we grew.

You shielded.

We overlooked.

Yet, You still stand, head high.

After days of toil, after nights of torment.

Clothed with pines and rustic trees-wild flowers and humming bees.

I tried to follow,

the whistles of some occult bird, the chirruping of some exotic fowl.

Your breeze so calm, it astonishes me.

I could hear you breathe — Or is it just me, still and quiet?

I hear the whispers, the echoes in your ridges.

The silver lining- not on the cloud, but at your foothills.

The stream, that dresses your ground

Like an anklet on your feet,

Pushing through moors, moving the doors.

You make a picture, surreal, strong, and sensible.