Salil Chaturvedi
Lost, but Always Found
Our slightest movement is amplified by the crackle of leaves. There are ears listening. A large raptor sets off suddenly from our right and weaves through the bare branches of the forest like a ghost. Keeping an eye on us, a giant red squirrel flattens its belly against a branch and holds still as we pass under. Into a clutch of rocks, a monitor lizard disappears, its long tail tapering into the darkness like a memory slipping away. We sit amongst the buttressed roots of a tall tree and consult the GPS again. The cicadas abruptly pause the shrieking of their dharma, pinpointing us with their silence.
gliding across the forest floor eagle's shadow
About the Author
Salil Chaturvedi’s short fiction and poetry have been widely anthologized. His collections In the Sanctuary of a Poem (2017) and Love and Longing in the Anthropocene: Poems and Haibun (2021) are available on Amazon. He lives on the island of Chorao in Goa.