tea on a rainy
night, milky sweet; i smell wet
himalayan pines
Tag Archives: himalayas
murree monsoon: a suite
the clouds hang silent
ensconcing wood and village
a mountain monsoon
within the dimness,
a cicada cries, lonely
like the call to prayer
outside dripping dark;
inside our ovaltine and
braving of cold sheets
bright fog after rain;
we stand on the bridge watching
the cataract roar
the diesel’s chuckle
the diesel’s chuckle
echoes long silent bedfords
trundling up the hills
Reprint: “Watching Hoosiers in the Himalayas”
My very first blog entry ever, way back on October 14th, 2004, consisted of this poem. I began with it because I think it is my best work in poetry and I wanted to start the blog with a bang. Here it is again for this new iteration of the blog, and because it is almost time to watch Hoosiers again for this year. Here is the poem also with some exposition and an image.
Watching Hoosiers in the Himalayas
I never thought I would ache for Illinois.
Especially here in this cherished place,
Amidst these swaying pines that whisper joy,
Of windswept hills and cold alpine spaces,
Amidst these pines that wreathed in monsoon mists
Transform the world medieval once again,
That silent stand like monks in sacred trysts.
Yet in this cherished place there comes this pain
For rich, dark, furrowed fields a world away
For harvest leaves that dying golden fall
On silent walks of silent towns that stay
More silent still when winter carpets all
And winter snowdrifts sweep, and families keep
To glowing houses. I watch this screen and weep.
