My 26th encounter with the peacock

1.
The peacock
Was putting on a grand spectacle
Shaking his feathers like Sri Devi at every lady in sight
Who chose to ignore him

He bent backwards
Shaking his bottoms at a lady
Who gave him the eye, momentarily
His fluffy angora rump feathers swaying
In her general direction

After a few minutes
She walked off in a huff and a puff
Unimpressed
I've better things to do, she mumbled

Sipping my iced tea, I observed
This is tough

Yes, the peacock agreed

It's too much of effort
Such a grand display to no avail

What do you mean, he asked?

You know, I've never really seen you mate
Have you?

The peacock replied, that's why some of us are trying to introduce the concept of polygamy
Dance once, and mate many



2.
Good morning, wished the peacock to all and sundry
Something was odd
Yesterday, the peacock was beautiful
Today, he is bald

He had molted
Discarded his colourful tail feathers

I ran out
Starting to collect the feathers,
On the wet bed
Before they are ruined by the rain

What you trying to do, he asked
Eyeing a beetle (it's not good for digestion)

I propose to build a memorial of peacock feathers
Why?
Every feather will be given a name
Each will tell a story

It's such a waste of time
How will you build it?
It's all so fragile ...
Where will you find so many stories?
Will it be meaningful?
Who will remember all these stories?

I told him
Just one story will do
In the end that's what matters



3.
The peacock helped me pack my bag
For a short vacation
Trousers, cotton shirts, sandals, Axe
What is this, he asked?

I sprayed Axe on him
That's when he understood the concept of body odour