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Past the blooming calla lilies
The struggling petunias of the garden
The iris flowered and gone
Fleabane on stone
Bergenia along still-dry moss.
There must be madness
Of red rhododendron in the woods.
The distant snows shine.
The river water, as we are told,
Is clean, even clear.
A leopard, or was that two?
Wait for the lights to change.
A foursome of deer move
From the rough to the green.
A civet cat not seen
Sets out to examine the marketplace.
We watch from our windows
As the noisiest spring of the century goes past.
Author, historian and journalist. He has published seven books on the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and its capital Shimla and is a recognised authority on both. He has handled assignments for television, including for the BBC, and for the Indian Institute of Advanced Study and various departments of the Indian Government. He writes regularly for magazines and papers in India and elsewhere. He is the state Co-convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
