#122, March 4, 2009

Towards the Self (oblivious)

The horizon mingling its haze

with the Arabian Sea;

an oil tanker trekking

lazily across the view

– no pirate ship in sight

(I won’t let them highjack

my vacation);

palm trees swaying

in the shoreline breeze;

a lagoon, on which

pleasure boats parade;

red tiled roofs

– not the usual resort thatch;

a stone wall sheltering

a cobbled stone path,

on which a golf cart

carries Ramesh

to his menial task;

a wooden porch,

along which Savita,

uniformed, walks

– in the opposite direction;

a white flower hanging

from a trellise

– an exotic creeper,

for which one needed

to inquire a name

(only to remain unsatisfied

with the answer);

a bug-like black humming bird

making speedy work

of the flower’s tasty innards;

a picture window,

unsmeared by any sweat

or sign of human exertion

(except that of a laborer’s cloth);

Precor USA

C966

(no TV)

SmartRate

Below Zone

Weight Loss Zone

Cardiovascular Zone

Above Zone

Heart Rate

– certainly pounding;

Speed, twelve point O

(kilometers per hour)

son, on next treadmill,

reaching a smooth sixteen

(that must imply progress);

sweat emanating

from every pore

like the previous evening’s

Spanish bubbly

erupting from its confinement;

I need to stop.

Ah, the beauty and safety

of a Taj Hotel,

– Kerala style!