Krishnachura in Cambodia

The haunted familiarity of the krishnachuras
in Cambodia transports me
back to Dhaka
in the 1980s
when I had a father
And
the sky had a shelter.

The jamburas in the rain
are a bit pretentious here ,
though behind the green skin
I can smell my childhood
and the run
and the walk
and the dream,
raw and unspoiled.

The jambura seller in thedirty t-shirt
next to the black Lexus and the grey Range Rover
with her little son
below the Krishnachura
has a gentle face,
hiding the pains
of losing her family
in the Pol Pot ocean.

Now I know why the krishnachuras
are red and haunted
next to the Mekong River
in Cambodia.

(August 22nd, 2011, Phnom Penh)