The chill of the December night,
Piercing us with all its might,
With attentive ears and watchful eyes,
Restraining movement, we stood upright,
With a glance to the left and a look to the right,
Secretly requesting our guest to revisit tonight,
And grace us with its presence bright,
So the painstaking efforts of the being on my right,
Could bear fruition this cold, cold night.
Just when I was starting to sigh,
Assuming we were left high and dry,
And our mammalian guest was not to comply,
A winged silhouette circled nearby,
With renewed excitement and hopes high,
We inched closer to our guest, on the sly,
My father took aim with me assisting close by,
With the creature simply quivering its little ears up high,
Comfortably hung upside down on a guava of its choice,
The pretty little fruit bat clung with poise,
Click click click the equipment made noise,
Finally my father had pictures of his choice!
And we bid a smiling adieu to our sprightly visitor, and rejoiced.
Varsha Bais is a scientific staff member currently working in ISRO who loves to travel, cook and marvel at nature.
Featured image: Author provided