Power Bites and Drumsticks

My newest FB friend  Arvind Khanna,  is a Botanist by training, and currently works with the Council of Scientific and Industrial  Research in New Delhi.  A very versatile nature photographer, he also does food photography , since his wife is a well known food blogger and trekker, Sangeeta Khanna , who has inspired numerous poems on this blog.  

 He has posted an amazing series of parrot captures, showing a parrot sitting in solitary splendour on one of the branches of the drumstick tree,  single mindedly putting in an amazing effort trying to break open the dried long drumsticks beans .

One simply admires the dedication , the ambition, and the  perseverance of the bird. And then one wonders  about some other things too....:-))

(Please ignore my name on the slide show. Picasa is to blame. All photos are by Arvind Khanna)

In a tree world,
the drumstick country is up for grabs.

Resource-rich with edible
leaves,
flowers,
and fruit
he tried and tried
to get
a license for defruiting,
and succeeded
because his friend nested
in the minister's garden....

First the small pods,
torn and pecked
in false poses
reminding you
of the One with the Flute.

Then,
one day,
feet firmly clamped,
a yogic stretch
to bite off
another one at its stem,
the red beak
clutching on the fruit
for a tightrope trudge on the branch.

Ambition blinds
as he swings vertically,
with tail always up,
swiping another drumstick
to investigate
the riches.

Bigger, the better,
all for himself,
munching on
the power seeds of the drumstick...

Last heard,
the pigeons and janata parakeets
were discussing fruit reservation in Trees. :-)