spring2015

Ashok NiyogiElegy to a Flush Tap (continued)With little water, much silt, directly pumped into DelhiFrom the holy Ganges, no less.Project named after our deposed Italian queen.We are truly global.For bequeathing to our children in Silicon Valley,And their children born into Kaiser Permanente,We still have traditions – “wash your ass, don’t wipe”.We will spend our summers with you darlings, insurance permitting,And eat your backyard peach. Don’t worry.The jet will come with me to East Bay, to preach historySo ancient that it was paper-free; preach a future so modern,That it will clean and sanitize with chip, embedded in thought.And then, when the jet is finally done,I will cremate it, recover the brass, smelt and re-use it for ornament. Or poetry.And write on its epitaph,“Born 1995 – Smelted 2015 - Faithfully and intelligently cleaned much upward-mobile ass.”54