Blue Sunbirds haunt this region. They
Convert this hill into an odeum
At five a.m. Tree branches sway
When dawn winds blow, making a constant hum.
By six, a gradual colour change
Occurs above the distant mountain range:
The sky, once lazuli and white,
Gets flooded by the hue of orange-gold
From Heaven’s mega source of light.
The tourists, standing cheek by jowl, behold
This incandescent spectacle
Like witnessing a one-time miracle.
The children are moon-eyed and thrilled,
Adults and elders bow in adoration
(As if to God Himself), all stilled,
When Kangchenjunga gets its coronation,
And youngsters click and store this view
Until that light has fully bathed them too.
* Word Meanings:
Tiger Hill: a hill in Darjeeling (a town in India) from which sunrise over the Kangchenjunga mountains can be witnessed
Kangchenjunga: a Himalayan mountain, the third highest in the world
Shamik Banerjee is a poet from India. He resides in Assam with his parents. His poems have appeared in Fevers of the Mind, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, and Westward Quarterly, Dreich, The Hypertexts, among others, and some of his poems are forthcoming in Willow Review and Ekstasis, to name a few. Instagram: @where_tales_end
