POETRY : Water by Arti Manchanda Grover

Water is material
The less it becomes, its value gets real
Places with round the clock supplies
Places with drops to count
Water woes surmount
 
Water is need
Without which nothing can breed
From plants, animals to household chores
It is like riding by the oars
 
Surreal it may sound
But even today women do the rounds
Miles and miles of walks
Filling up the pitcher pots
With loads on their heads
And blots in their feet
Some still have to make the water ends meet
 
Water is greed
For those who store
And sell it on prices that soar
As an old saying goes
What was found in abundance, now comes packed
It is because somewhere we all lacked
 
Over exploitation but no recharge
Changing the routes of rivers without heart
Looking at the past remains of water structures
That used to brim with the solvent lie in ruptures
From flowing down the drains
What remains to be said and unsaid?
Rip it or reap it
Just reflect on the way we treat it
 
Harvest, Alas! What is that?
It is simply to give back what we have
Raindrops that fall can be called
And ploughed back as we give out a call
Extraction can be reversed
A strong will together with action to be reserved
For water may give up
To our inhumane traits
 
Water is memory
That gave a stream to the paper boats from childhood
That shivering chill in the winters
That joyous feeling in summers
That first dance in the rain
That fall into the puddle of water logged rain
 
Water is a treat too
Merry it brings when it rains
As the plants and soils dance to the tipping rains
Lush green as our surroundings claim
Welcoming us to their wonderful terrains
 
Water an intrinsic ornament
For everyone whose emotions testament
It bears a witness to melancholy
Sometimes even eyes rain
 
Water is everywhere
In forms we may use or not
From icy glaciers to mighty oceans
From deep blue seas to calmly flowing rivers
From gushing waterfalls to meandering tributaries
From running taps to bottled water
From mountains to under the ground
We see water in varied forms
Give it many names and worship it in many norms
 
Water is us
It exists with us
And never ceases to flux
Driving the functions in our body
The force behind the nature cycle
Though odorless and tasteless
It has the power to dissolve
It has the power to absolve
The many sins we do to it
Still it is with water
That we take an oath
And a holy dip
 
Pour, pour it hard
That’s nature’s way to push it hard
Acid rains, incessant rains
Cyclones and Tsunamis at large
Barging into our homes
That they called their own
Causing devastation and pain
Marked with deathly remains
Reclaim as it shouts out
Loud and clear
Overcoming the fear of mankind
That tried to bind
 
Water you are at the altar
Command as you flow
We did enough to you and it is time we bow
Go, go on…in your journey free flow
We will not obstruct and try to slow
Your passage is full of treasures and glow
May you behold and grow!






About the Writer  
Arti Manchanda Grover hails from New Delhi, India. She is a master's in Mass Communications. She works with a rural development organization and looks after select functions in outreach for development. For her emotions are a source of writing. Starting as an occasional writer a few years back, she now finds herself writing regularly in both Hindi and English. Her Hindi and English poetry has been published in magazines and  literary portals, alongside experience in hosting and participating in online English poetic meets. 

Comments

  1. Loved reading this piece Arti! You've captured all facets of water in this poem.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts