Dhoop

Prologue

Dhoop is the name of the incense
they burn at the divine pedestals
in hindu houses.

When I was little,
not old or powerful enough
and not sacred enough,
I looked on from the gateways of the houses
into the rituals,
feeling the waft of sacredness
the air carried to me.
----

Bold I am,
timid I am,
brave I am,
scared I am;
I watch you glow like a firefly,
worried to reach for you
if you fly away.

I reach.
I retract.
I dream.
I wake up.
I thirst.
I thirst.
Turbulence is an understatement for this.

The elegance of your presence
cuts me, cuts me.

So I seek sanctuary
in the smell of Dhoop,
and turn into this boy I once was,
not worried about being turned away,
standing at the doorway,
taking in the fragrance,
like there's no tomorrow.