Poem 2

Flower song to an elephant

I stand in the middle of a field in Panbari,
fifty kilometres east of Gauhati, India
and in the middle of the mud lies a dead elephant,
a divine animal, which I cover
with red and white flowers.
The body lies still,
but I can hear the holy animal
talk to me again, and I give it
the name Baccē, as I would
call my own child, and love it
with each and every molecule of my body.
And I embrace the elephant,
like I would afflict my dead child
to the ribcage, while singing:

Main tumse pyar karti hoon

Main tumse pyar karti hoon

I love you, I love you
and when spring arrives
the flowers will continue
to grow and heal your body,
and I will remember you;
even when your skin,
body and inside

becomes ash,
and what you 
once were

becomes nourishment
for the lotus flowers

as a memory 
of you

and those who soon
will wake.

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