Ajanta Caves: Leaves from a Photo Album
From the window
of the bus, the caves –
black pits in the vast
stretch of craggy rock
*
Sun and wind and rain
of centuries: a bodhisattva stands
up close with impermanence.
The swarms of tourists
soon vanish
*
Buddhas spring
like lotuses
from the depths
of dank nothingness
*
I stand frowning in my red dress
in a field of wild mint: the peace
of the sculpted past is perhaps
already a memory
*
Light floods stone, smoothens it.
The Buddha lies, head cradled
in his arm. I listen – his words
still reverberate: be a lamp unto
yourself, be your own refuge
Note: bodhisattva: In Buddhism, a being who strives for Buddhahood and helps others to do the same.
Deepa Onkar is a poet from Chennai, India. She was a teacher at Krishnamurti schools, and a feature writer and literary editor with The Hindu, an Indian national newspaper. Her recent poems have been published at The Lothlorien, Mollusk Literary Magazine, and Sparks of Calliope. She currently divides her time between Chennai and Bangkok, Thailand.
Amethyst Review 