To Sarath A. Ghosh

(India)
I shall wind a turban of silver cloth,
And set upon its brow a circlet
Of jade and turquoise. Yea, I shall let my arms
Billow in their golden hues beneath
A mantle of creamy stuff like the foam
Upon an old bearded wave.
I shall tie my loins of scarlet and purple,
Yea, and I shall put upon my feet
Shoes of scarlet, and let them follow my bidding.
And the path they shall take me upon, shall be one
Which leadeth unto the temple wall, where I shall
Watch for the moon and the sign within her cup.
Yea, I shall put a sun within one hand,
And the moon within the other, for the soul
Shall be illumed of sunlight in its fierceness,
And likewise of the moon in its tranquillity.
Oh, my land is one in which moonlight
And sunlight intertwineth. Yea, yea, yea!
Through her eyes, deep as midnight, the great spirit
Showeth like a light within a deep well.
Lo, it leapeth forth like a tongue, and my kind
Burn like incense upon an altar, yea, and their
Souls uprise, mingling with Eternity, even so
Silently, so mystically as this.
Oh, the tongue which is upon the pivot
Of the wisdom of my land, is not yet unloosed,
And the temple bells are but chiming its Awakening!