Blossoms Blown Away~

The mesmeric almond flower

  with its pale-blush petals

still paints hypnotic pictures 

   across the grey orchards of Kashmir.

They reel repeatedly, at least, once a year

  teeth-marking the paradise on earth.

One Spring births a thousand blooms

…………. like meteorites blink on ground

All beckoning come, come see!

There was a time when visitors 
   came from far and near

Witnessed the surreal blankets

 Of ‘Badam Fulai’ – (almond blossoms)

  squeaking in high winds.

Today, that majestic valley
    is restlessly twitching, 

fretting at its captivity;

Army encampments stand and guard
   the dead-end lanes of ‘Badam Bagh’
Bullets have ambushed the dazzling almond trees.

Ah, freedom's a terrible thirst....
    truly "it salts the slaughter". 

Lost in water, blood falters;

then swirled to roses, it salts the
 slaughter.— Agha Shahid Ali

Kashmir has bewitched every heart that stumbled upon its beauty and stopped every pair of wandering feet in its tracks with its idyllic landscape. The celebrated Persian poet Firdausi gave it its best-known epithet – A Paradise on Earth – and the Mughal emperors were so enamoured of its beauty that they spent a fortune building elaborate and lavish gardens here.

My husband and I wanted to visit Kashmir, but never got a chance. This year, in the month of march we gathered courage and booked a tour package through a Travel Agent. We were sure to witness those white and pink almond blossoms that typify spring in the Valley. Unfortunately, like so many things, the beautiful spot once again fell prey to violence. Many airports along the borders were shut down and our travel agent had to cancel the trip.

Kashmir is a parched land of Paradise today…. :( 

***Badami Bagh is a cantonment town on the outskirts of Srinagar district in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. 

For https://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2019/04/poets-united-midweek-motif-almond.html