in a dream, treading lightly, instilled by
the near to bloom magnolia tree,
in dream the same magnolia, although
dramatised to a near-fluorescent
blush, among other flowers whether
in shrub, singled-out stalks, or trees
(like the magnolia); then being dragged
into a room full of people i once could
claim to know without added nostalgia
i ascribed more to the locations i knew
them in, sitting naked, arguing,
resorting to punch one of them in the face
and then seeing blackness of my eyelids,
hearing the clock tick tock tick tock.*

narayan's mantra, repeated 19 times,
with the head slightly tilted to ease the
larynx and open the nasal cavity;
the mantra?

ōm nāhmāh nārāyānnah
                               ōm nāhmāh nārāyānnah
ōm nāhmāh nārāyānnah.