The Sparrow’s Question

Mrinalini Harchandrai

It flits in like a summer’s thought

coolness against double-blaze windows

Its wings murmur like controlled breath

in lands whose ears pound with concrete

Tilting head, quick glances

eyes that hold more stillness than settled dust

a mosaic of earths ruffles its feathers

as it swoops the air between scaffolding

Not quite a sound, nor an echo

a creature the size of a heartbeat

chirping with stories of its lives across ages

quietly observing the hunger of cranes

With bones more nimble than steel

it delicately flies past the beast of progress

What hollows do we seek to fill

with the burden bricks we shoulder

Do we too see the reflection of mechanical gears

leaving crushed skies in our eyes

A lightweight spring, it tugs at the fumes

created by our freshly painted longing

It stays to remind us of our diminution

It leaves to remind us of our prayer.

MRINALINI HARCHANDRAI is a poet and novelist. Her novel Rescuing A River Breeze shortlisted for the Asian Prize for Fiction, longlisted for the McKitterick Prize and longlisted for Green Literature Festival’s Best Book Awards. She co-edited The Dragon’s Heart, an anthology of world poetry in translation.