In gun metal
morning stillness,
a spectral feline
repose

Her eon glare cradles
earnest pyres

Blake’s fearful matriarch,
a descendant
of unknown
nobility…

SHE-IS
SHAKTI

Yesterday’s kill-is close
Her perimeter of proud
progeny sprawl…
full-bellied
and asleep
under shadowy
bamboo

But for one
Sophomoric Son

Brazen youth,
restless eyes watch
the hathi’s wiry
pendulum

As he lies,
mehndi ripples over
the velvet cat

His endangered body
writhes in bold
consciousness…

A nation’s chakra
in the balance

* Hindi translations: hathi is elephant and mehndi is henna.