The Old Bat

THE OLD BAT

= Kafeel Ahmed Choudhury =

Out of darkness

comes an old bat

with piercing eyes

and a hawkish look

as if to catch a prey;

a face of Lucifer

that frightens a Faustus of today,

his wrinkled face

with balls of fire

could even defeat Ozymandias’ frown;

thus, comes the old bat.

I feel pity

for the smaller bats

who hang tenderly on the twigs;

O! what an innocent look they have!

Haply they hug each other

screech and dance and play,

unaware

that the ugly old bat’s come

as a fiend

to eat its own children;

poor tiny bats!

Thus, comes the shaggy shabby bat.

Guwahati, January, 2003.