Banyan and Beech

There is a tree called banyan
Hermit of the trees
story of its name not too old to find
Banyan, a British appellation
saw the bania trading under the cool beneath
Wide and strong, the banayn
Hermit of the trees
Tree of life and life beyond
Immortal it is

Immortal who are become auspicious
Like the sea, the mountains, carbon and ash

evergreen and shady
refuge for all creatures unable to bear the vagaries of life
though Not a blade of grass flourishes underneath

The over-protective parent it is
Offers shade but no fruit

For childbirth and food it is not to trust
Dejects home, flesh and material
Very distant it is to ever lust
The Rights of passage, marriage and childbirth
Major shifts in life
The banyan stands stable
a Long life span
like the soul
undying un-renewed

wives thread around
To a count of seven
Wish for the same husband
In every janam
branches become the roots
House to betals and pisaches

It is the soul, never dying un-renewed
associated with yam, the god of death

now so it happened
that we all set to
see the beech tree
many centuries old
some paths were blocked
some minds too
they had no questions
accepted everything they listened to

to all who asked and those who kept mum
the beech tree offered
something they never dreamt
studded with all sorts of green
old new leaves and chewing gums for the pigs
12 people around its trunk
28 steps within from the first sight
Some hugged it, some wished for the naked dance

Whatever would make wishes come true
often blindly trust

The beech was not new to human intervention
Some to see it grow
Some for selfish gratification
The lover’s point
Since four centuries and ten years short
The roots spread to reach to the water to the limestone

While researcher didn’t speak much
aNd answered the Frenchman
I wondered if the banyan could find
its companion in beech
since Immortal they both stood

Would wives come here and tie the sacred thread?
Will they also wish for the same husband in seven lives?

Or will there be wishes for match teams, homes and Mercedes
Matches and companions
That should quickly come and go

In all this wishing
We often forget
What they stand for

They stand alone
Against time
Seeing things live and die
Like cctv cameras for centuries

Immortal they are
Wide and strong
Hermit of the trees
No sermons no speech
The banyan and the beech