GOD OF LUCK
Kathmandu: a squat open-air shrine
in the clattering marketplace. I bring rice to Ganesh,
feeling so pale-eyed and conspicuous in Adidas
I hang back and don't present it. Women and children
come and go, chatter-chatter, rub bougainvillaea color
on his broad beast's forehead. A dab on their own
to remind them. God of Journeys, Ganesh,
who assigns and removes obstacles.
When Shiva--careless father--sliced off
his first-born's head, the ...