I wait for Wednesdays, the carnival
of a thousand beach stalls, strung up
like uncountable lanterns on parade.
Silk sarees and sun-print blankets
become the backdrop for coin conjurers,
as the mango-wood drummers
beat down the pelts of their prices.
Two Western girls, half-moon hippies,
slip shiny pieces of Goa up each arm,
snakes encircling their pale skins.
Close by, a thin-voiced woman, trying
to feed seven bare-bottomed children, sells
me sandals a size too small. Sipping lassi
at mid-day, I watch a prey of backpackers
drift towards Tibetans who have spread
bronze bodhisattvas on canvas.
I too carry an amulet for my journey.
The market kaleidoscope turns the colors in us.
We are like those artisans under the palm trees
who chisel elephants within elephants –
infinity from a single block of sandstone.
Poet Douglas Kearney and composer/producer/drummer Val Jeanty link up for a a compelling LP that feels like the written word come to life. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2021