Benares बनारस

As the Mother Ganga sprawls
pyres burn without death’s usual cry
Ashes reign, and embers glow
mirrored in pearlescent hardened eyes

Waiting in line upon the bridge
pleading shadowy creatures exist
A life ordained by birth
to revolve around another’s alloy disc

By the sullen rocky steps
in attempted refuge from squalor
A pallid vessel laments
despite internal grief’s abhorrence

Over where the mudded shore abounds
A lofted ball finds clasping youthful hands
As the sky retreats and joyous shout resounds

While with brittle gaze, soft-focused
he begins to see
The stricken wonder, India
of a tainted beautiful disparity.