The Burning — Abnish Singh Chauhan

That day,
the rain fell
with such force
that the ponds overflowed,
and the river’s embankments
crumbled into the flood.

The streets submerged,
the raised platforms vanished,
courtyards, once familiar,
draped in the silence of water,
transforming all into ruins.

The wood grew damp,
the chulhas1 fell cold,
no smoke could rise
from the kitchens,
fading into the sky.

Children cried,
their bellies burning with hunger,
sitting on the roofs
of half-drowned homes,
beside their distressed parents.

The rain fell—
but it could not
quench the burning,
despite its furious pour.

***

1. Chulhas: Cooking stoves.