His death in Benares

For Geoff Dyer

his front yard
is the true Benares
(((span class="indent1"/))) — Devara Dasimayya,
(((span class="indent3"/))) tr. A.K. Ramanujan

His death in Benares
Won’ t save the assassin
From certain hell,

Any more than a dip
In the Ganges will send
Frogs — or you — to paradise.

My home, says Kabir,
Is where there’ s no day, no night,
And no holy book in sight

To squat on our lives.