Krishna Janmashtami

Today is the birthday of the god Krishna. (My post from last year.) I wrote this poem about Krishna in pantoum form:

The Honey Forest

When night stirs, his flute calls them.
Women wake beside sleeping husbands,
slip silently from exhausted beds,
and steal away to the Honey Forest.

Women wake beside sleeping husbands,
removing the vermillion of marriage,
and steal away to the Honey Forest
where trees are heavy with swollen blossoms.

Removing the vermillion of marriage,
they become as pure as children.
Where trees are heavy with swollen blossoms,
each meets Krishna in jasmine-scented darkness.

They become as pure as children
longing to dance.
Each meets Krishna in jasmine-scented darkness.
Each thinks she is alone with him.

Longing to dance,
yearning for Krishna,
Each thinks she is alone with him.
Young women embrace him as their lover.

Yearning for Krishna,
old women hold him as their child.
Young women embrace him as their lover
till the night is over.

Old women hold him as their child.
They dance in bright moonlight
till the night is over,
then return to their sleeping husbands.

They dance in bright moonlight,
then return to their sleeping husbands,
slip silently into exhausted beds.
When night stirs, his flute calls them.