The Beast Poem by Prasanna Mishra

I had watched her
Dancing
In the courtyard
Under the breezy autumn sky
With colourful kites
Year after year
In her years
Of adolescence


On some days
She crossed my way
With load of books
In her bulging bag
Running for the bus
Like other school girls


I had watched her
Grinding
Coriander seeds
And chillies red
Briefly
Every afternoon
For evening cooking
By her mother


In a spring
I saw her
on a swing
Transformed
A shy creeper
In bloom
With fragrance
In abundance


I saw the leopard
Shortly thereafter
That carried her off
To the bush
In an evening
Gnawing
In the thicket
With a garland
Around its neck
And whiskers raised.


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