As a little boy
I wandered in the lush green meadows
and ran after the butterflies
that allured me
with their pristine colours
as they flew
from one flower to the other.

I grew up and learnt
the ways of life where one plundered
the nature for whatever it could offer
without remorse-
as its stoic silence
echoed in the distant mountains
over the cascading spring of joyous giving.

It was an onesided game
where one took
without ever giving in return.
And at the thoughtlessness
even the desolate Pines shuddered
in the icy terrain
of wintry ruggedness.

Now, in my pensive days of reckoning
I am aware of an overpowering strength
in Nature’s blatant indifference
to the reckless plunder of its being-
like the ocean that rushes to the shore
giving in abundance
yet remaining the majestic king.