The twilight pyre burning still Across the sand bed Towards the slender stream He led his mother
It punctured his sole Should not hurt someone else Plucked out the skeletal scrap Damp with his blood And set afloat in the river
From the basil bush Shed a bunch of leaves Into the flow gleaming With dripping sandal paste Of the dipping Sun
On the son's wound She dripped the soothing sap To end the long waiting Rubbing the mother's shoulder Whispered the Calotropis 'Though you hid it so long....'
Sharp spiny tips concealed Beneath the scorching shoal They rest in waiting The destitute fatherhoods.