By Gazala Khan
The Uttarakhandi bemuse over the beauty of the forests:
the primordial mitochondria of nature
with forty five per cent forest cover.
Prometheus, hailed as a hero,
gifted fire: the primordial flames to mankind,
seen as a blessing.
A blessing! Alas!
Promethean wildfires engulf the forests.
The serpentine red flowers
hiss and haunt millions of lives:
animals, birds and humans horrifically embraced.
The annual rituals of firestorms begin.
Spring and summer frown and tremble.
The lush green blanket of the forest
turns to a lifeless grey terrace.
With tense expressions and hearts at low,
we move our lips and pray.
The Bonbibi of Uttarakhand
is left powerless.
Binsar in Almora leapt into a wildfire.
Five were burnt alive.
An old reaper from Thapli was
engulfed in the forest flames
with more.
O Promethean Wildfire! The annihilator
fleetingly swept lives as embers from the mountaineering terrain
set ablaze the land till it was ashen-grey, dead and helpless.
*Uttakhandi: People of the state of Uttarakhand
*Bonbibi: Venerated deity of forests
*Binsar Wild Life Sanctuary (Uttarakhand) fire (2024)
*Thapli (Uttarakhand) fire (2024)
Gazala Khan teaches in the Department of English, School of Languages at Doon University, Dehradun, India. She has also been working on creative and literary projects.
Borderless 