Sailing From India
from Mata Hari And The Music Box
Steaming, Sumatra to Zeebrugge,
under a moon washed up like a cuttlefish
on violet skies.
Across the drowsy Indian Ocean
a steady wake churns up spume’s feta tang.
Cymbal, drum and flute, Shenai music,
billows in the cinnamon echoes of the oil lamps.
Improvised curtains part in the Dutch officers’ mess
and a devadasi, sopping with jewels, glides
into Orissan dance.
The rhythms of sandalwood; her fluvial limbs
begin to lull the gods to sleep;
the officers languid on cigars and port.
Page(s) 35
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