Falgun Feast

Shyamasri Maji

Palash petals blaze the blithe sky
sweet air slurps the lawn
Marks of his teeth on her nocturnal lips
summon a festive dawn
Pigeons coo from cornice and roof
peacocks in patio dance
A good man’s wife steals her way
to Jumna banks in a trance
Smeared pink her betel-leaf face
saffron her unruly chest
Cowherd beau with pichkaari waits
on Radhachura’s crest
Milkmaids dance in naughty shower
Falgun flows in their fiery grace
wet and hued, two lovers meet
Shri smiles in Shyam’s embrace

Pichkaari= water gun; Radhachura=tree with yellow flowers