Leaving Shankar

I

Big and Black and

filthy after

his bath in the sand.

The giant best

free from collar

rid of all command.

His mahout speaks

a foreign tongue

of broken antiques.

Shankar Ravi

my newest friend

one of nature’s freaks.

II

Healthy fodder, all

branches and leaves, won’t

eat at any cost.

Peanuts and

bananas,

devoted to those.

Deep ends of

winter lakes

until his ***** froze.

Crazy giant, son

of the wild, father

to a herd long lost.

III

How and when did

you and I grow

so close, so soon?

Splashing away

simmering days,

beneath the stars

studying the moon.

‘Here have all these

bananas and

peanuts that I

saved for this day!’

Wretched fate that

put you in chains,

plays its part to

take you away.

One final bath

in the sand to

bid us farewell

in our own ways.

I hope you find

a herd in the

wild to make up

for the lost days.

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