Council on Energy, Environment and Water Integrated | International | Independent
“I want to save it, you say, and I add that I want to give it another try!”
Another day, another attempt to fix a broken heart.
You stick it with glue, and I let it sit and wait for time to pass.
You look at me; I smile.
You and I in the same room; it's been a while!
"Don't leave me!" you say.
"I still remember the day we met."
"The flame is out," I interject.
What was once shall not remain the same.
I mean, who is to be blamed?
Maybe, this is it?
"Let's go back and fix it!"
You say it so quickly, I cannot say no.
And off we go.
To our wonderland
a place in the woods,
we found in a second-hand
travel guide on our first date.
"You and I, this is fate."
I'd said with so much joy.
“Boy! How can I forget?”
The walk to the offsite is out of sight.
The brochure now calls it a secret tourist spot.
You and I smirk as we have the same thought.
Everything is ‘touristy’ these days.
Even a simple spot in a forest trail
a tree, a trunk, a waterfall…
Everything - for sale.
I remember how it stood there.
Nothing different from a regular,
unbothered forestland.
A waterfall that filled up a tiny
natural pool; provided it rained enough to push the sand.
It doesn't rain like that anymore,
The days are hotter,
which makes you worry further.
We look for our spot,
until we are stopped.
We see from afar,
the trees around our spot are ablaze.
We are panting,
as we soak it all in, in a haze.
You look at me shell-shocked.
You wanted more time.
We watch our spot burn to ashes.
Is this a sign?
Those heatwaves even the forests couldn't bear…
Who are then we to be spared?
You ask if you can help.
They tell you help is on the way.
Sometimes, people make mistakes,
and nature has to pay.
You don't like what you hear,
you look at me with despair.
I don't know how to console you,
so I hold your hand and stand right there.
"You're my spot," I say.
"You are where I want to be.
For you see, this forest will find a way to grow back.”
“We'll help her find a way.
I'm not going anywhere,
I'm going to stay."
We're escorted back, and
that's where we let out a cry.
"I want to save it," you say.
“and I want to give it another try!”
About Sainee Raj
Sainee Raj is an Indian actress, poet and scriptwriter. Her works include Interior Café Night, Stories by Rabindranath Tagore, and Shaka Laka Boom Boom. She is best known for her poem Sahi Aur Galat.
