Nigeen: A lament

The moorhen still
Flits through the bulrushes,
Kingfishers
Jab at the puny fish
The mountains ring it
Grand Chinars stand
In splendid line.
Along the banks
 The houseboats rest
Their latticed windows
A gleam
Unique
Yet the Nageen’s bane
The offal of human greed
Seeping from their ceramic bowels
Deep, deep to the lakes soul
Tangled tresses of weed
Streaming just beneath
The slimy, slimy water
My fingers curl back
Upon my palm
How once I trailed
Them, on its shimmering surface
Catching pearls on lotus leaves
It is no more the
Pristine oval
Long ago
A discerning queen
Sought to compare
To the azure gem,
Upon her slender hand
The gentle splashing
Of the heart shaped oar
Jars on my ears
The waters roll
Neath the painted boat
No thrill evokes
I make the boatman turn
Back to the shore
That I may bask
In the sun’s evening
Deception
As it makes a million
Stars
Upon the Nigeen’s face
Till it lasts……..