The parched sparrow

   Does it ever happen to you?
A sparrow appears in your dreams
    Beak open, mouth parched
Waterless desperation in its eyes
Night after night of a parched sparrow
         You wake up one morning
            with nothing on your mind except the memory
of some dry grasses
      and pebbles in a gone-dry childhood stream.
          It takes an hour to remember
    your real name.
It’s time to begin again with some mud
       in your mouth.


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Salil Chaturvedi
salilwheels@gmail.com