Late Day Sun [Haiku]

late day sunlight
fires the yellow temple top
while shadows harden

DAILY PHOTO: Temple at the End of the Street

Taken in Bangalore in July of 2022

DAILY PHOTO: Konark Carvings

Taken in December of 2021 at the Konark Sun Temple

Flameless Flame [Free Verse]

walking through a darkened temple,
a jagged hole perfectly aligns;
 the kinked white-light washing inward
becomes a shimmering flame,
topping a stone pillar, 
becoming a faux candle
in my shimmering mind

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Ahmedabad

Taken in October of 2017 in Ahmedabad

DAILY PHOTO: Chiang Mai Temples [Functioning]

Taken in October of 2012 in Chiang Mai

Buddha Wisdom [Haiku]

in the temple yard,
i read the Buddha's words,
and feel their wisdom

Temple on a Hill [Free Verse]

granite bubbled out of the jungle,
and - upon it - they built a temple

its walls were anchored into stone
until its walls were the hill,
and the hill was its walls

and no one could find one true point
at which one ended & the other began

was it built to be 
closer to the heavens,
or further from hell?

not by people for whom
heaven & hell
reside in the mind --
unattainable by velocity,
inescapable by distance --
constant traveling companions
only confronted head-on

maybe they wanted it to feel
permanent,
knowing even that granite
would crumble in due time

Flame Dance [Haiku]

a field of flames
dance in rows of butter lamps
in the dark temple