Weeping Wilow

There I lived in the woods, a tree, tall and straight;
I could never imagine that I was soon to meet my fate.
I was young and sturdy, an object of envy,
For my companions were all old and heavy.
They would tell me stories of the ‘tree-killer’,
I would mock them and say, “Wonderful fairy tale, old timber!”

But one day a man very oddly dressed paid us a visit.
He was armed with, what looked to me like a curious little mallet.
He inspected us very carefully, and then with a sudden rush,
He swung the mallet at me with a gush;

screamed in pain, he seemed intensive, for he continued;
I could take it no longer, the pain could not be subdued.
I crashed at the feet of the tree-killer with a loud thud.
I felt miserable as I tasted mud.

I know not what went on in his mind,
For without me more heat would be there in the wind.
Would he pay for the damage done to the rain ?
Would he soothe my weeping family’s pain ?
Or would he rather not care about it and use me to sit on ?
One day on mankind it will dawn;
That every one of us they cut, the lesser the chance they have in this world.

- Rohit Bhattacharya  

The Ancient of the World  

Look into the savannahs my son, what you see is an ancient being,
Look well for perhaps a few years later you will not see it respiring.
Perhaps later in life, in some museum you will find it,
Poor creature, by then it would probably be extinct.
What a shame it is; now that I look back into my old school days,
With a little contribution from me I would not have to look upon the dead rhino as it lays.
It is living out its final moments as it lies on the grass, in deep agony,
It IS partly my fault that now I listen to its melancholy.
There is still hope my son, you and I can still make a difference,
Thank yourself that you have not lived a life of ignorance.
A ray of light shines upon this world and its inhabitants,
All we have to do is realize that we should not live a life of pretence,
Deep onside we know that this world is not solely ours,
Dawn brings with it new hope, go and do not waste away your hours.

- Rohit Bhattacharya  

Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill  

The spotted pussycat ran and ran,
Faster pussycat kill, kill!!
He thought of his family – wife and cubs
And the many stomachs he had to fill.

He ran and ran as fast as he could,
For he saw a spotted fawn,
Faster pussycat kill, kill!
He ran on and on.

As he got closer
He realized that it wasn’t a deer,
It looked more like a…
Human! The most horrible creature ever.

Before he knew it, he had attacked,
He did not mean any ill,
Then once again he started thinking
Of the many stomachs he had to fill.

Humans never cared,
They didn’t think of others’ lives
They just went ahead and killed
Not realizing that the dead could not be revived.

So the cheetah did the same
He went ahead and killed
Faster pussycat kill, kill!!
With this cry the air was filled.

How would we feel if animals poached
Just the way we do?
How would it feel if it was us who was dying ?
If we were the ones in the zoo!

It wouldn’t feel that nice, would it ?
It wouldn’t feel nice at all,
Imagine the helpless animals
All they can do is call.

And that call can soon harm us –
“Faster pussycat kill, kill !!”
The pussycats can easily kill, kill,
Till their desire is fulfilled.

That desire may be to kill man
And make the human race extinct
This is because of the many animals
That selfish man has killed.

Due to this foolish act of man
So many creatures are dead,
The only way to stop this is
That awareness should be spread

- Shivantika Jain