An Unprecedented Dance by Ranjana Sharan Sinha

Every year
on the cusp of autumn
she let herself go
and becomes a dance partner of Nature:
Although she is not a peacock
dancing in the rain
nor a honey bee
waggle dancing,
she nevertheless dances
in a thousand forms!
 
The village damsel
and her ochre-colour skin
have an inmate connection
with the natural world that creates
a sensory awakening in her!
The trees, the motion of streams
and the linnet-green leaves
inspire her to dance
and the movements are created!
 
Under the pearly glow
of a dawn sky,
she runs out of her shanty
in a rhythmic sequence
to collect harsingar--
Arms outstretched!
The dynamic vibrancy
of her lean soft limbs is like
lapping waves
amid the divine aroma
of the Vedic Harsingar*!
 
She stands under the tree 
observing the falling flowers--
Her silence and the vertical saccades
are more than props!
The white stars touch the ground,
and slowly she bends
from the waist
to pick and collect


 
* Harsingar= Fragrant white flowers with orange twigs.