Boyhood

Ageless and young
In the splendor of amber skies
Chasing after velvet moths and butterflies
Besides the streams of spring
As the morning descended
With a cascade of wild peacocks
And laughter was in the air
Breathless and profound
Time stood on the mantle
Of boyhood innocence
As I danced in the pupil of the sun

In the birth of
Many a carefree day
The rapture of waterfalls
And the call of mynah birds
Were mine to keep
As were the fistful of stars
Snatched from the glitter
Of midsummer nights

And the temple was a distant walk
Alongside beggars and perfume shops
Where up on majestic stonewalls
A jury of honey bats heard
The testimony of a parrot keeper
As he told the fortunes
Of a hundred weary men

When the monsoons arrived
The earth was ripe with paddy fields
Hungry storks on sugarcane legs
Paid silent vigil to the passing of time
And with a sweep of my hand
Autumn was aflame with her spectacle
Of tangerine hills and silver clouds
And catamarans swam naked in the sea