Up before sunrise, the air chill,
eight of us march in silence,
lenses shielded from morning dew,
heading for a grove of banyan trees.
Tripods out, cameras attached,
we peer into viewfinders;
to catch a cluster of golden spires
emerging from the morning mist.
As the sun touches each pagoda,
we snap images one after another,
intent on capturing evolving light.
Afterward we traipse along the lake,
each in his own world and time.
Cameras bristle from our bodies,
raised momentarily, surreptitiously
as bathing women come in view.
Waltzing by, we zoom our lenses
pulling the colors of their day
into our complicated cameras.
Observed, we mutter Mingalaba,
all-purpose Burmese greeting
to placate kidnapped souls.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 25, Issue 4.
Janet M. Powers, Professor Emerita, Gettysburg College, taught South Asian literature and civilization, women’s studies and peace studies for 49 years. She has published in many small journals, including Chaleur, Earth’s Daughters, The Poeming Pigeon and The Gyroscope Review. Her chapbook, Difficult to Subdue as the Wind, appeared in 2009. This old lady still writes poetry despite, or because of, our sorry world.
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