Indian Tryptich

1 Dancing School, Bombay

Five o'clock, the sun's going down and
a surf of women float their saris,
fine as sunset silksoft air,
out of the dance school's shadowed alley,
over the black cracked shitted walkways
into little humped Morris cabs:
six in the back, five in the front,
and one small boy in the trunk.

Vroooom!

2 Burning Ghats, Calcutta

At Kali Ghats a trail of blood
leads to sacrificial yokes where everyday
the heads of a dozen goats are razored
off kachunkkk
and hung for folks to buy.

Cherishing the dead Kali wears their heads
around her neck and in her holy Ganges
burning place she eats them.

At Kali Ghats I watch a foot a leg
step out of the fire an old man
with a stick runs up pushes hard
against the foot shoves it back into
the flame stick drives leg bends
knee pops bone drives out rip sizzle
swoosh then and only then I see
the other leg the chest arms head
face grinning far inside the fire.

Learning how to look.

Three hours it takes an old priest says
completely to burn an adult less for a child.
Just over there they are preparing to burn a child.

Brahmins are burned head to the south
other castes the other way round.

A little girl's being put down the other
way round big eyes white in deadflesh face
little soft body flopping around while father
uncle? brother? weeping tries to place
her into the nest of sticks to wash her with
Ganges water anoint her with dhal tuck
into her mouth rice banana beans in butter
(the mouth 3 times touched Brahmins 7)
cover all but her face with sticks as a young
boy marches 3 times round (Brahmins 7)
small fist blazing with trembling reeds.
Flame snaps Kali hums all come circling
bringing each a twist of fire love grief....

Deep in the fire's thickening womb
eyes lips fingers disappear.
Kali takes her.


3 Howrah Station, Calcutta

I wait for a train to Jamshedpur
    to read some poems
by our feet
an old woman lies on the platform
    brown ass sticking out of
    pale green rags
    face rubbing twisting
    in the dirt....

Is she dying?

The crowd splits
going by.

            I
am the only one
wondering what to do.

Finally the train comes.
I leave too.