राम नाम सत्य है
Mother died last night,
Mother who never dies.
—Louis Glück
four men carry her on their shoulders
for her final pilgrimage
beneath the white
sheet cocooning her she wears white salwaar
kameez
cotton bud in each nostril
nothing of her visible anymore
rain silhouettes our bodies
washes the road crackles
wires swinging between
poles and streetlights
wet asphalt reminds me
I am barefoot
father chants
rama nama satya hai
rama nama satya hai
name of god is absolute
name of god is absolute
everyone around us echoes
into the wind
even rain has a voice
memory of her heavy swollen body floats
into my mind
all else seems a lie
the absolute truth an inadequate lullaby
I try to repeat but my voice
is a bone stuck in my throat
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