Except
Perhaps
Sunrise
Weakened sun
Weakened lungs
Weakened resolve
Beauty and ugliness
Joy and hardship
Kindness and predation
This land of extremes
This country of paradox
Creating beauty from ugliness
What could be
More iconic
India
I arrive in Rishikesh
Where the Ganga
Gently exits
The Himalaya
Heave a sigh
Breathe deeply
And collect myself
On the riverbank
Beautiful
Were it a morning mist
Or a shroud of fog
Pierced by morning sun
But smoke permeates the atmosphere
Even the train compartment
In which I ride
With every breath
Smoke
More this:
The journey here
Intends to scale
The mountains of
My inner life
In these foothills, at Rishikesh
I drink it in
This perfection
This preternatural beauty
My spirit soars
My arms outstretched
Imagining, I’m a hawk in the wind
Each a mystery
Each a surprise
Some a shock
Some a delight
Light comes
Driving air
Down the valley
Clearing atmosphere
Of smoke and mist
Ohm, I sing
Into heart
Into center
Into spirit
Ganga, take me down
Down to distant sea
Where I become the drop
Which is, itself, the sea
And learn eternal peace
In oneness with the One
Pix to Words 