Let's tell tree tale

 Around a little town's corner 

amid rain and breeze,

growing by the roadside

there's a tiny grove of trees

"I'm grown along the roadsides,

my leaves are nutritious and mellow.

People grow me for fodder

cattle loves me", smirks willow

"I might be deserted for being crooked

left to grow on a rock,

people shelter under my boughs

in the scorching sun and rain", prides oak

"Majestic and virile

I can't be felled to make a log,

creatures dwell in my hollow..

ecologically important I am", says hemlock

"My exudate's used as libation,

evils with my incense I repress,

associated with the Buddha

I am sacrosanct" cries cypress

"I can be sculpted on..

tender, soft and fine

sought after for furniture

I beat you all", remarks pine. 

People from the municipality comes along

when the bright sun shone

with maps and axes...

an hour later, all the trees are gone!

Karma Thukten

25th of May, 2022

Maokhola-Gelephu

Naturally Beautiful

O! Beautiful bodacious angel!

Dancing in the air,

Naturally graceful, naturally elegant,

Majestically Painted with flair.

She hasn’t done her eye lashes,

Bleached to accentuate feather colour

Or whitened her visage,

The beautiful European Roller.

She isn’t buxom,

She hasn’t worn a wig,

She dazzles with her radiance

Perched on a squishy twig.

She needs no fancy apparel

and put on some ultra high heels,

 Her beauty isn’t to coax

Cockerels to pay the bills.

You don’t expend resources

To look like a tart,

You were innately glowing

Right from the start.

You’re naturally beautiful

You don’t need no beauty parlour

And if of my words, you don’t buy

Remember her, the European Roller!

Karma Thukten

19th of September, 2021

Maokhola Outpost, Gelephu

Cloud formations- A marvel

Have you ever gazed up the sky,

Watched the cloud

And wondered what shapes

It’s all about?

Sometimes you see a turtle,

Sometimes a palm tree,

And rarely army of ants

On some hunting spree.

On occasions, you see a cabbage

A carrot or a cauliflower,

The shapes keep on changing

Each passing hour.

At times there’s that hare

And the slothful sluggish snail

Racing Against the breeze

Leaving behind a teeny tiny trail.

Sometimes you see some eerie figures,

Sometimes you see some faces

Or some inconspicuous maps

Of ancient medieval places.

Some shapes are just strange

Of whose shape, you can’t relate,

Like a forlorn farmer in the field

Of oat and millet.

Sometimes you see the God

Seated on a throne, our King,

For inquisitive minds in the sky

There’s always a thing.

When your days are hard,

Gaze up the skies

To see some crazy shapes

Unfolding before your eyes!!

Karma Thukten

16th of September, 2021

Maokhola Outpost, Gelephu