Colors of Kathmandu
Red powder smeared on brown brows and broken altars.
Grey smog-filled sky sits with pigeons on open rooftops.
Green banana trees hide hacky sacks and children’s knees.
Brown dust forever coats the traffic in the streets and every traveler’s feet.
Gold threads climb the hems of saris swishing on the sidewalk — a fluid rainbow of scarves and sandals.
White rice piled high just before it’s bathed in dal*
like the midnight mountain tops before they’re dunked once more in the dust of dawn.
*Dal bhat is a traditional Nepali dish, consisting of steamed rice and cooked lentil soup called dal.