Three Kashmir Cameos.1. Dal Lake, Srinagar Poem by Ananta Madhavan

Afar the boat, a twig of Ikebana
Entreats a sense of form.
Supine upon the lake-low 'shikara'
I dissolve all form,


And glide along a haze of looming hills,
A cumulus of trees,
Cloud shadows, ripples whipped, a setting sun
Splayed through poplars.


Could I dissolve myself, form-clasping animal,
How would these forms and shapes remain
Discrete, insoluble, impervious to resolution
From the couched 'shikara'?

(Shikara is a low wooden boat, typical of Kashmir lakes) .