Amidst the Black Sari flotsam
The cholera tides
The taught ribbed swollen bellies
We missed the flood
My failing desire, your shadowed delta
Drowned in wailing songs
So much debris
Unintentional promises
Fallen beyond the pretty American’s bright lies
And painted lips

Even in your arms
My breathing quickened
To the chill
The furrowed blades braced
Beneath my neck
Remembering
The tears, the thoughtless banners
The dead silent bands banging cymbals
At the breached citadel gates

After the flood
We’ll make love as if war
And fever were real
Only our tears were not