From where I sit in this bicycle rickshaw
everything is in motion.

Balloons, massed into colourful clouds,
ride in the rickshaw just ahead.

Brahmin cows walk by, unconcerned
by the tiny cars speeding and honking.

People of every age and description
walk towards the stalls and shops.

From where I sit in this bicycle rickshaw
pale pink sari fluttering around me,
all is completely still and silent,
*even as everything is in motion.

..Mars..
..Venus..
..Jupiter..
..Moon..
Line dancing
...together...
just hours before dawn.

Tonight,
take me with you!

I promise not to tell
where your secret dance hall is hidden....

Eyes opening to quiet wonder
in the stillness
of night.
My young mother
beside me.

Top bunk bed
positioned by my father
for a view of
the cosmic smile...

Our
bridge,
shining with light
way at the top of
Manhattan Island.

"Look what the tooth fairy brought to you."

In one graceful hand
my mother held
a nickel,
flowering majesty
shone huge, and white
in her other hand.

Each of us tenderly new
to this magical
manifestation
of love.

Transcendent sleep
is still a rarity
for me
and
such a gift
when it comes

Beautiful
and
Improbable.

Like so many
of our
human
relationships.

Fourteen years ago on this Hallowed Eve
you joined ancestors and fellow poets,
traveling through time, and into God's light.

Always one to find meaning in your days,
perhaps you chose your last one too,
even after months of summoning
all the bravery within you.

Honoring both saints and magical living
especially in our childhood,
even a velvet mermaid's tail
embroidered with shining sequins
manifested in your deft and giving hands.

You are always with us now, Ma/Patt
even as you are always missed.

Today, your long auburn hair that never turned white
tumbles over a deep blue satin costume,
embroidered with silvery stars.

Your generous, enduring smile
is so at home, beloved Ma,
in the Heavenly company
of God's own angels.

Wrapped up tight,
held in your light.

Find me now, vaulting through these years of loving
that only you and I have ever known.

Only this brimming, milky
sweetness...

Beyond familiarity, you and me, tumbling
again through lifetimes of just knowing,
fully feeling, without ever calling.

Held in your light,
wrapped up tight.

Only our brimming, milky sweetness,
eyes closed, and minds wide open...

Wrapped up in your light,
held so tight, dear full moon,
my own cocoon.