Those Who Go

Let them go who want to; turn your eyes towards those who remain. Look into the mirror: An angel looks at you from within,whispering to you in your own voice: Don't give up, live. Listen to silence: It is an uproar, a cascade like your beloved bursting into laughter stroking her hair backward, the dance of leaves, the wind's anklet, the song of survivors from beyond the river, the new year arriving with a round of applause, flowers dangling from her ears. There is no yesterday, nor tomorrow; only the doors of today opening to the sky. And smells:of wet hay, boiling paddy, rain-washed earth, elanji flowers, arecanuts in bloom, cardamom, serpent's eggs, the mysterious secretions of trees and men. I will not sleep tonight, nor will I let you.