Poetry by Hardarshan Singh Valia

“Message on a Canvas”
       By Hardarshan Singh Valia

Earth
Water
Seeds
In the same canvas
Turn to plants, feeding living beings,
Providing shade to a herd of deer
Under the watchful eyes of a lion behind the grassy knoll.

Painting
Became pawn of appreciation
For guests sitting comfortably
On their dining chairs.

After the accolades
The silence punctuated
With the ripples of prayers
Meant for plant, deer, and lion,
Broke the confining walls of the words
And cascaded through the corridors
Out into the markets selling vegetables along with exotic meat.
Reverberating its way into the forest –
The uncharted territory of the free-living habitat.


“Lovebirds”
       By Hardarshan Singh Valia

Every morning the rooster’s crow “Cock A Doodle Do”
Was meant as a serenade for his beloved hen
A lesson in love followed As he filled his beak
With the flowing water from the open spout
She lovingly placed
Her beak under his chin
And caught every drop of water
The whirling Dervishes
Danced under the spell of
The nectar of love
While other inhabitants of the animal farm
Could not fathom the road to freedom.

- Hardarshan Singh Valia is an Earth Scientist who has published poems, stories, and essays in journals such as Wards Literary Journal, Northwest Indiana Literary Journal, Poetic Medicine, River babble, Who Writes Short Shorts, Dove Tales – Writing for Peace, Caesura, Sage-ing, Huffington Post, Northwest Indiana Times, and COVID tales journal.

Copyright©2020 by Hardarshan Singh Valia. All Rights Reserved.