Wrap-a-round the waist
Of brown dried leaves
empty nests and lakes
gusts eroded soil
closed ones left her
Summer-of-turmoil

Singed yet yearning
defies upheavals
Sun tries the hope
; had locked clouds
in a deep dungeon
beneath blue shrouds

“Bleak sprouts bliss
, I shall stand tall”
Quips the Queen
one dawn in June
receives a reward
from the monsoon

Brocade black blouse
drenched and draped 
emerald studded ‘paithani’
wears necklace waterfalls 
homes birds and beasts
ebbed earth enthralls

Pleats verdure valleys
Braids brooks and jungles
Sprays grey clusters
Dainty-dewy-diva
rains hymn the mystery
of Sanguine Sahyadri 
© Juhi Gupte