i dreamed of you, India - A Poem

i dreamed of you, India,
your insistent temple bells
anklets and saris
draping, falling, circling,
weaving

you in constant motion

i dreamed of your gullies
a candle on a doorstep
red string tied on a dark wrist
i dreamed of you and i was 
invisible and lucid

the dhaba, the chai wallah,
Jaya and her premature son
i search for one person in
a tidal wave of sorrow

the flutter of birds on the roofs
kites in a sky that fills with
smoke, where will i find her?
i dreamed of you, of my search
and my smallness
your women like jewels
holding their children

i was with you
i was invisible,
in crowds that threatened to pull
me apart 
without malice

a train call, hoarse cries of crows
the bellow of the next-door neighbor’s
bull. i dreamed of your glittering birds
on their nests. your people are
dying and i do not know how
to find my friend

in my dream i was searching
and praying, i put my hand on
walls still radiating the day’s heat
God walked in your gullies
like a mother cradling
her premature son.

***

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