Agra, in Northern India
Children dash through Yamuna River shallows
beside the Taj Mahal, their legs more like spider
appendages skipping through splashes
in the morning of their childhood, away from grownup
tales of “moshka” in the Ganges, a spiritual liberation where
parents practice their Hindu and Buddhist culture.
These children have not yet seen tourists arrive in blurry
shapes to hear drums and tambourines celebrate the
cremation of loved ones in pyres of banyan wood
but one day, growing lives will learn to accept a bull lie in the
middle of a pashmina shop, visit the village of Khajuraho
where Kama Sutra temples abound, then drive between
fields of mustard seed plants on their way to Orchha.
Much later, these same children who once splashed in the
Yamuna River, will bare thoughts from crowded streets of
Delhi and remember summer days from precious childhood.
© Richard L. Provencher 2008
first published November 2008
Hudson View Poetry Digest
International Poetry
