Excerpt
In the dry lands
every few miles, moving north,
another roadside Ganesh
Straw figures
on bamboo scaffolds
to advertise a family
of stilt-walkers
Men twenty feet high
walking over fields
crossing the thin road
with their minimal arms
and "lying legs"
A dance of tall men
with the movement of prehistoric birds
in practice before they alight
So men become gods
in the small village
of Ilukwewa
Ganesh in pink,
in yellow,
in elephant darkness
His simplest shrine
a drawing of him
lime chalk
on a grey slate
All this glory
preparing us for Anuradhapura
its night faith
A city with the lap
and spell of a river
Families below trees
around the heart of a fire
tributaries
from the small villages
of the dry zone
Circling the dagoba
in a clockwise hum and chant,
bowls of lit coal
above their heads
whispering bare feet
Our flutter and drift
in the tow of this river