Life = Death - Volume 7 - Poems on Life , Death by Nikhil Parekh - HTML preview

6. ONCE UPON A TIME 

Every tree standing lanky and towering on the hills; was once upon a time a minuscule seedling,

Every dog barking discordantly on the streets; was once upon a time an innocuous pup; yelping incoherently in the darkness all around,

Every bird soaring handsomely in the sky; was once upon a time a glistening

egg; incarcerated beneath soft twigs of the nest,

Every alligator slithering menacingly through the marshy swamps; was once upon

a time an inconspicuous tadpole floating nimbly in still water,

Every desert sprawled over infinite territory; was once upon a time a small hillock of disdainfully colored mud,

Every star shimmering brilliantly in the cosmos; was once upon a time a tiny flame of glowing candle,

Every mountain towering domineeringly on the landscapes; was once upon a time

an infinitesimal lump of clay,

Every tiger with a deafening growl philandering through the jungles; was once

upon a time an infantile cub; having bohemian paws without the slightest of nail,

Every leaf gargantuan in proportion and cascading from the tree; was once upon

a time; a raw bud extruding in clusters; proliferating by the hour,

Every volcano fulminating into sizzling fountains; was once upon a time a placid stream of molten liquid,

Every patch of ominous cloud in the sky; was once upon a time thin wisps of atmosphere,

Every slab of fortified wall; was once upon a time a finely pulverized blend of burnt stone,

Every large bone of the body; was once upon a time a profoundly squelched mass

of intermingles flesh,

Every squall that swept thunderously across the city; was once upon a time a

droplet of saline tear that trickled down the cheek,

Every mass of lethal dynamite that exploded; was once upon a time an incongruous piece of lead,

Every wind that mightily blew in the monsoons; was once upon a time moist breath that flowed intermittently through the nostrils,

Every dinosaur trampling indiscriminately through the meadows; was once upon a

time an obnoxiously scented insect,

Every mother surrounded blissfully by children; was once upon a time a freckled and embarrassed girl,

Every reptile profusely impregnated with poison; was once upon a time a stinging beetle,

And every man trespassing on the surface of land; trying to reign supreme over the entire earth; was once upon a time a particle of saw dust; simply a short stub of compressed thread; one out of the millions lying scattered in directions unprecedented.