Is to see the unimaginable
To experience the unknown
And, most profound of all
To touch
And be touched
By people
I may never see again
But who will forever
Change my world
To touch
And be touched
By people
I may never see again
But who will forever
Change my world
And then it does
But only for a moment
Until something else
Pulls it away
In this visual cacophony
Of a culture traveler’s feast
While the bells clang
Insistently
In golden Varanasi
Where the priests
Celebrate Shiva
With a dance of fire
Everyday:
A little music
A little dance
Even better:
A lot
Playful ritual
Paddling on styrofoam
While mother washes
To build the pyres
For funeral blaze
Lit from embers
Of Shiva’s fire
Burns every hour
Of every day
Four thousand years
And still today
I heard
But did not hear
You exiting the door
And my eye
Was on a scooter
For which I’d waited
Once pollution
Once wildfire
Once winter storms
Twice undesired
Once intended
Often spectacular
Demanding
A different
Perspective
And in the 16th century
When they first said it
Life as a dog
Was hard
And that’s what they meant
When they said it