POSTCARD FROM RAJASTHAN
If you could see me now at Pushkar Fair –
though with thousands of tourists milling around
I’m small as a bug in the hay.
Can you imagine the smell of it –
spices and sweat, hot camel dung?
These fields are hazy with dust.
Have you been close to a camel?
They moan like wrestlers – but such
soft eyes with brows as bushy as brooms.
Last night I sat by the lake.
Some people were bathing – a ritual dip.
The sky was saffron and red.
* A regular contributor to IS&T, Mandy Pannett runs an arts cafe, supports local writing groups and
enjoys giving readings and running writing workshops. She has two
poetry collections from Oversteps Books – Bee Purple and Frost Hollow.
