Inspired by Wordsworth - Part 2

Having a look at my 'CyberWorld' poem, my English Instructor asked me to pen a poem for a National Level Writing Competition. I promptly did so, and submitted the same for the competition. I didn't think about it later because I was pretty sure that I will not win any prize for it. However, to my amazement, I received an Appreciation Award for my poem. This incident, which happened during the last leg of Class 12, just before the Board exams, is one that I will never forget. I have published that poem in this post. Personally, I consider this my best poem yet!

One Cloudy February Afternoon

As I strolled about for fresh breath,
Under a dull, cloudy February afternoon sky,
My interest was roused on my vicinity.
A church’s precincts with coconut and neem,
Nature at her worst with copper leaves,

Even though the yellow leaves impersonated gold,
The neem tree looked miserable shedding leaves.
Down came Blackies with monotonous crowings,
Gliding from the roof of the church,

To bathe in the shower of copper from the neem.
Soon they started increasing the shower,
Simply by shaking the branches of the tree.

The bare tree awoke my conscience,
Made me compare the withering leaves,
With the decline of values from man,
And love, kindness and gratitude from earth,
Made me compare the crows to the selfish,
Who induce communalism and violence on earth.

I sighed and looked up the cloudy sky,
Surprised was I, yet found it hard to believe,
Cloudy cross and crescent across the gloomy sky,
Sky the mailman and God the sender,
And the message was obvious;

All autumns are followed by springs,
Come spring and there sprouts fresh green leaves,
Which will withstand the force of the Blackies forever.

The neem tree seems to be waiting for spring;
So do I, for peace to arrive on earth,
For the day when Earth becomes Heaven.