We sat in the afternoon in the shadows of Ancient trees paying homage to the lady Who had died, of excess of life over death. We were treated to a feast in her honour It was her wish we should be so treated. She was sharing surplus life here with us.
Where was the promised river bank where we Would Invoke her spirit amid deep-throated Sanskrit chants and smoking holy fires?
There is no river bank here but ancient red walled Storied structures .Here well-fed priests call down The spirits of our dead by sonorous chants.
All the while she smiles beatifically, in the hall, From her two-dimensional existence in a photo. The excess life she had died of seems still spilling.
(Cancer is uncontrolled division and growth of cells meaning unwanted increase in life activity and consequent breakdown of life support system)