DAILY PHOTO: Primping Cat on a Rail

Taken in December of 2021 in Darjeeling

Mallick Ghat Market [Free Verse]

Loomed over by Howrah Bridge --
that big steel beast --
the flower market is a world of color,
marigold garlands in orange, yellow,
and alternating orange & yellow.

The odd stack of roses:
white, pink, and -- of course -- red.

White garlands with red accents.

Greenery.

Loose flower heads in piles,
pecked at by tiny birds
that bounce and flit.

Rose petals at risk
of being carried by a gust 
into a swirling cyclone of 
romance --
only to be left littered on
the muddy pavement.

DAILY PHOTO: Colorful Vehicles of Kolkata

Taken in December of 2021 in Kolkata

DAILY PHOTO: St. John’s Church, Kolkata

Taken in December 2021 in Kolkata

DAILY PHOTO: Jain Caves of Udayagiri

Taken in December of 2021 in Bhubaneswar

DAILY PHOTO: Jagannath Temple, Puri

Taken in December of 2021 in Puri

Bhubaneswar Limerick

A crafty langur of Bhubaneswar
lived in the trees above the old bazaar.
He'd watch shoppers straggle
and shopkeepers haggle,
then slip in under everyone's radar.

DAILY PHOTO: Odisha’s Mustachioed Lions

Taken in Puri in December of 2021
Taken in Konark in December of 2021
Taken in Bhubaneswar in December of 2021

Darjeeling Limerick

There was a tourist in Darjeeling 
whose fingers and toes lost all feeling.
He didn’t remember
it’s cold in December,
and the dearth of heaters left him reeling.

DAILY PHOTO: Buddha Head, Ratnagiri Museum

Taken in December of 2021 at the Ratnagiri Archeological Museum