Rishikesh - Remembering Ravi Bansal

Rishikesh where the Ganges water flowed

Swift and green and icy in morning light.

I bathed in purifying waters, allowed

My body to be immersed, the ancient rite

Of cleansing in the holiest of streams.

And then I watched a man use dynamite

As dead fish surfaced belly up, their screams

Silent in the fast-approaching night.

We dined on lotus root and talked of God

And walked upon the ancient sainted ground

Where long the feet of solemn mystics trod

And glimpses of eternal life abound.

The years that steal our memories away

Cannot rescind those hallowed afternoons,

The promise of a not-too-distant day

When Phoenix shall ascend among our ruins.