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.