Naga

I travel on
a taste.

I explore my world this way.

A mystical journey through chocolate corridors into lushness of coconut palms and spice gardens;
a barge crossing
through the backwaters of God’s own country.
A quavering high pitched singing
undulating on the breeze
to beating drums,
carving the air, fragrant with jasmine blossoms and acrid smoke,
to the silky shape of
erotic devotion.

There was a golden light-filled room
that I entered
in a dream
before I arrived.
Sacred, mysterious.

I was filled with wonder then,
and burgeoning hopes like tender lotus flower shoots
nourished by a tropical monsoon
of sights and sensations.

This gem
on my tongue,
cacao, curry powder, coconut,
rich and transporting,
takes me back
to the other side of the earth.