Best Poems Written by Rishabh Bhargava

Silvan Dam

under a broad sign “Silvan Reservoir Park” 
I turn the steering wheel and see wristwatch hands 
pointing to a quarter past three in the afternoon 
there is enough time for tea and biscuits by the dam 
before sunset slowly erases 
colours from the Dandenong Ranges 

I suppose this is where I crush autumn leaves
(some red and some green)
quite crisply and cleanly
on the base of my leather-strap boots 
and I step onto the warm silvan lawn 
over small yellow patches
where sunlight burnt holes in the grass
“lay the blanket down there”
where words have not been uttered
in several decades

this is where I learnt to play catch 
by the force of a hard red cricket ball 
on nervous, shaking hands 
I hope to hold onto one today

listen to the wind rustle the trees
and that cyclical rhythm
oo-oo-aa-aa-aa
when kookaburras laugh 
as if to say “I see you, dear”

and what I say 
when the clock is well past three 
and colours are erased 
and the woods are not familiar to me 
is that here in Autumn 
is heaven on earth

Copyright © Rishabh Bhargava | Year Posted 2022