‘One among us is dead’
That is all they said!
And that is my guess.
Got electrocuted
A crow was hanging on a wire.
In no time, crows gathered in the air
In hundreds, cawing, fluttering.
Yes, in no time, but how?
Wi-Fi they have?
Was the mother, wife, son or daughter
Of the crow there in the crowd?
How did they weep?
How did they withstand the shock?
What condolence message they passed?
Did they discuss about the disposal
Of the dead crow, hanging on the wire?
Did they talk about the assets left over?
And how to share it?
Did they discuss about the soul,
It’s movements, up or down?
Unaware I’m ; heard only the cawing,
Saw only their fluttering.
Don’t even know whether they wept or laugh?
Will birds laugh when one among them is dead?
Will animals laugh when one among them is dead?
They would have only said:
‘One among us is dead!’
And that is my guess.
No assets to share,
No books to tell where the dead crow would go,
Other crows would have simply said,
‘One among us is dead!’
And that is my guess.
Wonder whether anything more
Anything less, to say
When one is dead
I mean, when a crow is dead!