We commit one of our own to the wind's embrace. May the flames that we kindle and the smoke thereof carry their spirit up and away above the flowing waters of the Bagmati, above the monkey-coated walls and roofs of this place. May they seek repose on the breeze. May they find peace on the wind. May they rest eternally in the sky. And may we all remember the fervor of that life that burned as brightly as the pyre we light on these banks in the sun.
Written at Pashupatinath Temple, a major Hindu temple in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Dozens of cremations take place here every day on the banks of the river.