Boat Ride On the Chilika Lake

The boatman jabbered, “Ten rupees for each, For a cool ride down the Chilika Lake”, We egged on the elders, their child within, The wooden boat, barely a few feet long, Holding hands, brown and sturdy we climbed on, Through the obtuse bending, welcomed us warm, The boatman oars, stirs still waters about, Tall grasses tickle the sides of the boat, Nudging it slow, out of the serene shore, The soft mud surfaced, soon bubbled away, A leaf large of lotus gladly made way, The frog caught lounging, swiftly dived away, The evening sky, bright orange and gleaming, A beautiful sun preparing to ease, Right under the horizon, cackling geese, Jellyfish soaring to breathe in the play, White bodies against transient amber haze, Surrounding our boat to pay their homage Graceful ivory cranes, their young and new, Downy feathers fluff, their eyes start to droop, In the tangerine sundown, sight to scoop, The bank reached, the journey hypnotic, As the beauty of nature, exotic, A mystic boat ride on Chilika Lake!