'To go the way of the dodo'(Prose Poetry)

The Zoo Garden's Curator appeared helpless. The recent discovery, a grey-feathered dodo, probably the last living specimen of its kind, has stopped taking its food. Veterinary experts had been summoned, special diet-charts prepared - fruits, grains, insects, even other bird-meat were offered, yet all of those have politely been overlooked. One double-chinned Ornithologist thought that the shy bird must be missing its natural habitat and might be puzzled by the sight of so many overzealous onlookers. He didn't rule out the possibility of the dodo suffering from acute mental depression, being set-apart from its soul-mate, had there been one. The Curator nodded knowingly and added: a twelve member search team had been dispatched that very morning to the islands near Mauritius; an exploration to find out whether or not any more members of the rare clan could be found alive. "We will leave no stones unturned," asserted the crestfallen man, "Therefore-"

"Therefore, Ladies & Gentlemen," interrupted a lean bespectacled person, "Therefore, we MUST find a way to soothe the nerves of the loner. Watch its eyes, watch the dreamy glint... There, that's the philosopher's look!

O Angel of Love, thy grief shines beamingly, a candle glows through the darkest hours of Night. O Dove, have pity on the wretched human folk who hath dared to make thee a mere prisoner! Immerse thy sorrow within the nectar of rhymes, make thy life a saint's solitude. Let me offer thee my humble verses.” He flashed out a few torn pages from his pocket and flung them towards the bird. To the utter disbelief of the conglomeration, it slowly moved, crouched forward, picked up one poem and gulped it down its throat. Within the next fourteen minutes, fourteen more poems found their way to its stomach. A pandemonium followed.

Since last reported, law keepers have cordoned off the area, and public-viewing of the spectacle has been suspended indefinitely. In the meantime, the bird has gobbled up the entire notebook, enriched with poesy.
(c)Arunansu Banerjee 2010