Diwali Remembrance

She had simian features But burning eyes Mostly in chemise She was adrenaline That set my heart in spate That was long long ago When we shared company In the flash of Diwali crackers And roaring sparklers All that I remember She smelt too good In her teenage efflorescence I hadn’t then seen Arabian beauties Or ogled the blondes Brunettes, blacks That set Hollywood on fire With cleverly concealed anatomical features Sophia Loren was unknown As was Irma La Douce Ursula was yet to bewitch Robbers in forlorn deserts She lent me the fire With which I lighted crackers Most of which misfired Each time the light was passed I saw her eyes glint In a primeval fire That spread out a night-sky of stars Having lost her forever In my senility now I need only the memory of that fire To light my crackers And sporadic sparklers Through lonely nights Like comets in spate Oh, Diwali is a splendour May I have her around In her scanty chemise Smelling all time good Like a haystack in rain wet Or at least a memory of it