gulab khandelwal selected poems

Tell the cuckoo
Not to make so much noise.
The princess is sleepy.

It’s true
These songs were liked by the princess earlier,
When the cuckoo had sung in ecstasy.
But that was the time of spring.
It is winter now.
Tell the cuckoo
Not to play so sweetly,
The pain is unbearable.

The wings of the cuckoo
Shall be plated with gold.
Her feet will be adorned with silver-bells.
Her meals of milk and rice will be doubled.
Every time is not meant for singing.
Sometimes, feelings are best expressed
Through silence.

Tell the cuckoo
To go somewhere else.
Why is she raising past memories.
The parrot, the peacock, the nightingale,
All have stopped singing. .
All of them have gone and slept in their nests.
But this cuckoo appears to be mad.
She still loves singing.

Tell the cuckoo
To hide her face in the leaves,
There is great sadness all around.