THE CLEVER PLAGIARIST

Speak not to the
Stubborn cuckoo
That perches hidden
Amidst the branches
Of the gulmohar in unfailing regularity,
As spring sets in our neighbourhood,

Beware
In a bad trade deal,
He’ll cajole you,
To barter your melodious voice
With his jarring one

Compose no more
Your original music
On your humming scale
When the cuckoo is at
An ear-shot distance
Camouflaged and all ears:
He has survived for ages
Taking the music-lovers for a ride
On pure piracy.

Convert not
The visible alphabet
Into exclusive and exquisite lyrics
When the cuckoo is lurking
In the thick-red foliage;
He is a clever plagiarist
And master in distance learning.