Bathing ghat

Through the thick of forest

Down The Slope Of The Mountain

The Gange rushes in terrific

Haste like a heifer in heat;

Tail raised nostrils dilated

Glow of lust in eyes to mate.

Steps in stone descend to

Bathing Ghat at Rishikesh,

Inside the security of

The protective enclosure

In the river a young white-

Woman as nude as a fish

Save one string of Rudraksha

Beads around her conch white neck

Dives, swims and splashes water.

Glad in ochre loin clothes only

Legs crossed sat on the steps

Four men whose open palms

Rested on their folded knees.

Beards husky, hairlocks uncombed

Bear breasts and foreheads

Smeared in holy ash but eyes

Stealthily follow the gliding

Nakedness. Whether is going

Astray chasing the Golden Deer

Or they’re perceiving a glimpse

Of the Supreme Ecstasy

(Image:Sunrise view of the main bathing ghat at Har-ki-pauri, Haridwar. Source: Wikimedia)