A River
Chugging northward through Kerala
I lost myself in the Exodus and did not look up.
A little leaf settled on Ari’s name
Like Philomel’s tongue, still singing.

Looking out through the window I saw the Nila,
Dedalanian girl in the sea.
Kaleidoscopic frames of a land in the past
Flashed across my mind.

A mind matured in the urns of a public school
Cut off from the memory of its race,
Watched the river wind its way,
A mother link, narrow but still flowing.