A moment flash--
Jumping out of my eyes
Yellow grasshoppers, colourful butterflies,
Purple flowers, grey calves, playful Bulbuls.
But then I see,
I am standing along the city road, oblivious
The rainy wind hits my face
Like the hem of the wet saree of my mother,
It melts away after caressing my face
Closely following a speeding car
In this pandemic-hit city.
Ashar rain falls on my raincoat,
Like it fell from the wet hair of my lover
Rain droplets like tears.
Then a car honks, an ambulance siren rings
All I hear is the river flowing
Am I getting it back again
My long lost butterfly life!
But then I notice,
On the road, a whirlpool
And drowning in it, a dead Bulbul.
Zarin Tasnim is a journalist for the Dhaka Tribune
