INDIA SONG

India, 
India, 
Early light
bathes the river, 
in red, gold, rose, 
saffron sunrise, 
indigo night
lifted like a sari 
on the breeze
from the opposite shore, 
all so sacred
even breathing 
is a prayer. 

India, 
India, 
to say your name
is to chant it, 
dance it, 
mystic letters hang on the air
like drifts of incense
in the still evening
and an ocean of flickering flames
dazzle the sacred stairs, 
luminous, glowing, 
fireflies underfoot. 
Kohl-eyed infants, 
bent-backed men,
women with hennaed hands
like vessels, like shells,
waiting, watching,
walking as in dreams, 
and all the while, 
hallowed river waves
lap at the steps of ghats
like thirsty tongues.  
And the pyres burn on, 
restoring ash to ash, 
transporting life 
to next life. 

India, 
India, 
a single shining thread, 
that silk, that solitude, 
peace, tranquility, 
eye of the storm calm, 
karmic calm
spice and passion, 
resignation, 
life, 
so much life, 
copious, conspicuous, 
serene and chaotic, 
vivid as holi, 
lovely as truth. 
Life after life, 
and certainty. 

India, 
India, 
sitar, tambla, 
I dance to you, 
my ears blessed, 
heart wide, 
eyes filled with wonder, 
changes, transformed, 
return anew.
Life after life, 
I touch you 
in my dreams at night, 
across the world, 
a mere day 
between your soil and mine. 
My river, 
merges with yours, 
mingles in my mind, 
as you have touched my soul
and made me a home.