I have been dreaming
the same thing
since my childhood.

The dream is like this:
a pond is surrounded by a jungle;
a grey bird sits on its surface
dipping its beak in the liquid greenery.
Singing loudly,
I grow tired perhaps
on its bank.
But the bird does not fly away,
it does not even raise
its beak from the water.
My dream ends at that point.

Why is the bird’s colour grey?
What is that song I sing in my dream?
Why doesn’t my voice frighten the bird?
I can’t ask anyone this question
for fear that I will be considered insane.

It is true that I had two hobbies in my childhood.
One was to watch birds.
The other was doing sums.
Gradually, I grew dull in math
but could not give up watching birds.

I can vouch for the fact
that the bird that appears in my dream
is unlike any other.
Why has that grey bird
taken my dream on lease?

And despite my love of birds
I have one reservation:
why do birds elect
to congregate on one tree
when the one nearby
is birdless for days together?