tall grass walking —
waves of grasshoppers
take the lead
one droplet
clings to the drooping point
of a leaf’s tip
red fire ball,
rising over broken
boulder lands
egret & ox,
patrolling the fields – a
baffling pair
when scale fades —
granite dome – forest-fringed,
becomes rock in grass
“To freeze or flee?” Asks creatures terrified,
when monsters stomp through forests, glens, or fields.
I know what it’s like, standing stuck mid-stride.
Yet, I’m more oft the monster than he who yields.
Maybe you wonder on the monster’s life,
if the fact never occurred to you that you’re
the stomping monster of the chipmunk’s strife.
when you have that most pleasant hike or tour.
The screech, that call, that’s screamed to each and all
is not some passing fancy or fevered
dancing of critters seeking daytime prowls.
They’re warning others they feel beleaguered.
“You must be this tall to be a monster,”
reads a sign no taller than a lobster.
Taken on July 3, 2020 near Ramanagara.
Chennagiri Hill; July 4, 2020
Ramanagara Hill; July 3, 2020
Ramanagara Hill
Dead Leaf Mantis; Taken in Ramanagara Hills on July 3, 2020
Six-Spotted Ground Beetle [a.k.a. Saber-Tooth Ground Beetle and Domino Beetle — fyi: Don’t pick up these buggers as they spray formic acid.]
Mantis; Chennagiri Hill; July 4, 2020
Wasps; Chennagiri; July 4, 2020
Patches of pink on army green —
the rhododendrons bloom.
In the hills of Himalaya —
gone the sad winter gloom.
Gone the weight of weary sinew —
the soul begins its float.
We feel the fire of shining skies
as we shed pack and coat.
The body, so still and silent —
nonetheless takes to dance.
The hike’s exhaustion falls away
and one tunes in the trance.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 