If You Cut a Tree; You Cut Your Own Mother – Poems on Environment , Wildlife , Mother Nature , Global Warming by Nikhil Parekh - HTML preview

55. HUNCH BACKED CAMEL 

It bore the acrimonious tyranny of scorching sun round the year;

leaving bold footprints in the dust it tread,

Traversed incessantly through blistering soil; with sandy winds blowing

across its eyes,

Ambled languidly in the brilliant day; increasing its pace a trifle at

the onset of night,

Intermittently munched parrot green tentacles of rustic cactus;

immensely relished the dry meal of leaf and thorn,

Occasionally rubbed its slender neck against the sandpaper skin of wild

tree; raising its eyes toward the almighty residing in heaven,

Angrily swished the scanty clusters of hair on its tail; to drive away

scores of petulant mosquitoes,

Wore a bedraggled rope dangling loose from its neck; a cushioned saddle

riveted to its angular sculptured body; Intricate pieces of leather

wound to its mouth; to maneuver it through labyrinth of routes,

Possessed a firm pair of hooves; which glistened all the more

profoundly in the sunbeams and looked mesmerizing under the placid moon,

Had a slimy nose with gaping nostrils; which remained wet despite the

acrid warmth irrevocably prevailing,

Spawned many of its kind; suckling its young ones utterly bereft of a

cloistered shade,

Walked marathon distances in a single day; unrelentingly stepping on

islands of steaming land,

Stooped down as much as it could; when confronted with tumultuous

whirlpools blowing with full might,

Moaned in high pitched exuberance as it sighted a solitary stream;

storing the water for months till it found a fresh source,

Gallantly fought an army of disdainful crabs; audaciously kicked loose

rocks that came its way,

Seldom shed its tears; overwhelmingly inspiring those who feared life

to come out of their nonexistent shells,

Had a passion to bask under the dazzling sun; thoroughly detested

crystal blue patches in the sky being obfuscated by clouds,

It had remained as stoical as omnipotent god under the most bizarre of

circumstances; refraining to flounder under the pugnacious heat,

Was quite glad to adopt the sizzling silver sands as its companion for

life; even dreaming about the same while in deep sleep,

I offer my humble salutations to this silent warrior; as my "HUNCH

BACKED CAMEL" carries me through the colossal expanse of the Sahara desert.