Me and Kali
by Jay Passer
as I approached the temple
a bunch of Indians were looking up into a tree
a fairly large tree, there were guys up there, trimming
I took a quick Western look
in the temple there was a guy guarding the shoes
I opted to keep my shoes on and not enter the interior
I didn’t want Kali to get mad
the guy guarding the shoes had cataracts in his eyes
I wasn’t sure if it was cool to take photos
but I took a photo
being a Westerner can overwhelm a guy
at times
outside the temple I was checking my camera
damn! the shot was just a bit blurry
when out of nowhere 20 brown hands
wrenched me from the spot
and WHAM! out of the sky
an enormous bough fell to earth exactly where I’d been
standing
just another tourist casualty
flattened in a puff of dust
whoa, that was close, I said
my saviors laughed naturally
and a woman gave me a glass of chai
as I sat on a bench
my heart pounding
I should have erased the photo
but I didn’t.
