Coming to Rest

I was in Venice with you, and

Kathmandu with you, and Cusco

with you — beloved cities.

They are gone now, irrecoverable,

not what they were (places of singing,

shining) seventeen years ago.

Is Venice still sinking? Kathmandu

is rubble. The people are old, we knew

in Cusco. And you are dead, my dear.

I’m glad to remember those cities, our cities;

and glad to be here, home, remembering
you, my journey’s companion.

At dVerse Poetics we are asked to write 12 lines including three words that mean a lot to us (mine are 'Venice', 'Kathmandu', 'Cusco') and three words describing people or things we're grateful for (mine are 'remember', 'home', 'you').

In Nagpokhari, the Serpent

In Nagpokhari, the serpent

rises in stone from the water.

I used to go and sit

on the terraced side of the pool

and gaze at his rearing head

on my last days in Kathmandu

quiet with the knowledge

I would not come again

in this life, here, to be

alone and silent with him 
under that calm sky.


Submitted for Poets United's Verse First: Close to the Source