In musky bamboo jungle, damp and tall,
a wet and humid monsoon scents the air.
The forest hears a hornbill’s gocking call
its woodland eyes are watching and aware.
There, soldiers shoot Kalashnikovs and spread
a cordite quick collateral sharp death.
She wears a Naga shawl warm, black and red,
and watchful says a prayer under her breath.
My centre’s there where tribal logdrums beat
among the soft cicadas nighttime trill
as fireflies dance their tango down the street
and brightly coloured birds sing loud and shrill.
My most important person waits for me
under a shady verdant alder tree.
This is the first sonnet in my attempt at a sonnet sequence. The rest will follow.
The whole sequence tells the story of our wedding and the hurdles we had to overcome to get married. I wrote it as part of a course bur more importantly to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary.
As the narrative is a real event that takes place in an unfamiliar land with its own culture there are some places and few words that might need elaboration.
a. Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. It is important in Naga Culture.
b. Gok/ gocking is an onomatopoeic representation of the sound a hornbill makes.
c. Nagas - the indigenous people of Nagaland (and some parts of surrounding states) in North East India.