Saga of Riverbank: A Poem by Indrani Chatterjee

Yes, I am the riverbank and I stem the incessant flow of watercourse
Trying to parry the habitation from being deluged by its tidal force.
I am the harbor where anchors the water vessels
And also the stuporous spectator of the umpteen commuters,
Who are inclined to reach me ferrying across the river level.
 
I am the witness of copious instances
Those that emanate and decease on my verdant strand.
I witnessed the anxious wife, who adieus with grieved eyes
Her man, who sets sail on a prolonged voyage with his merchandise.
I find the atrophied travelers or the aimless wayfarers
Who congregate to repose under my shady arbor.
I eavesdrop in the inquisition, trying to be amused in silence,
Listening to the exchange of saga of their trivial subsistence.
 
I also know the demented vagrant who lost her mental state in dejection,
For her beloved had forlorn her on my littoral, never again to claim in possession.
Often so, when night befalls, the bohemians shelter in my mushy supple overlay,
Listening to the soft murmurs of water ripples,
Their minds tranquilize for a dream tomorrow without delay.
 
Thus I become the tacit history of every moment's occurrence,

A motionless seer whose only alliance is with acceptance.