Ann Mortifee Streets Of Banaras
I searched for you today in streets, I wandered up
and down
Through the dust filled morning of the yawning town
I wondered how you would appear if I but saw you there
Or would you disappear as soon as I drew near
Are you this man who bends his face into a frown
Or this youth whose features laugh and dance around
Are you this frilly girl with ribbons in your hair
Or this crippled boy, limbs twisted, bent and bare
The sun comes up across the hill and spills along
the street
The fingers of the heat reach out to wake the people
to their feet
The lanes are full of charcoal fires brewing morning tea
But every hut in which I look it's just your face I seek
Is it you who calls from yonder stall to wave your
wares at me
In sari wrought of green and gold you stroll most regally
You leap full high upon the cart to lift your sack of grain
I see the strain of nerves and oh I marvel at your frame
Life is good, life is sad
Life is fine, life is mad
Life is sweet, life is cruel
Life is grand and plays us all the fool
I hear your voice a thousand times in curses and
in prayers
In idle chatter by the way, in men who vend their wares
In dogs that bark, in birds that sing, in the ring of
temple bells
In the drip of taps and the roll of wheels and in the
river when it swells
I searched for you today in streets, I wandered up
and down
Into the dust filled evening of the sleeping town
Round and round I went searching endlessly
But every face in which I looked your eyes peered
back at me
