Little Varanasi

the men with shaved heads
and white robes

the wife in orange
and saffron

the body wrapped
in white sheets

flowers heaped
in a cortege

then the procession
to the fire

on the other side
of the river

monkeys climb
the walls

women sell trinkets
to tourists

people buy peanuts
and popcorn from vendors

as we rise to leave
a man stares at me and says:

"We are all the same--
we live and we die"

life so close to death

the smoke rises behind us
as we walk back into town

                                                      Pashupathinath, Kathmandu