Bibi ka Maqbara; Aurangabad
What a thing it is to be trapped under a shadow. To be grand, but not the grandest. To be old, but not the oldest. To argue your distinction, but be too similar to avoid comparison to the marvel. Better to be a shoddy original than a second-rate colossus.
distant cricket chirps: from the next hill, I wonder? now, one at my feet.
Feel the breeze upon your face.
Let it be all you know.
Don't ponder atmospheric lows.
Just feel the breeze upon your face,
and know:
There is a breeze.
(Though it may not be
what you think it is.)
You have a face.
(Though it may not be
what you think it is.)
the pond 's drying up. the fish look sad, and I feel sad.
Buddha statue: what would its reflection in my eyes look like?
a car slows, then pulls to the shoulder: sunflower field.
Mongooses or Mongeese?
My Jamaican friend says,
"It's GEESE, mahn!"
But I can't tell whether that's
a Mon-guess [or a guess, mahn!]
I'd prefer a non-guess
on the mongoose's gees-i-ness,
lest I develop lexical queasiness.
It seems like it should be mongeese,
because "mongoose" is very
much like "goose."
[As my Jamaican friend would say,
"It's jus wit the 'Mon,' mahn!"]
On the other hand, a mongoose
don't look like no goose I've
ever seen.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 