For My Nephew Omar On His Engagement to Nadia
This small box hides a porcelain elephant
rigged up in howdah and trimmings,
a Kashmir-style sapphire
on the forehead — an inner eye;
conch shell ears fan out,
supple raised trunk
cradles a bird’s nest
without breaking the eggs.
“A matriarch of her herd,”
said the woman who sold it,
“175 years old, maybe more.
One-of-a-kind.”
Parting with this thing,
(Raj kitsch or art?)
I have long held dear
with my childhood’s faith
I have this dream
you will one day walk
like an elephant
joyously on water.
by Rafiq Kathwari, Beaver Dam, 29 October 2005
rafiqkathwari.com/@brownpundit