the aging antiquities dealer
drops the price on his idol

of Shiva Nataraja, sold
to the Dallas art museum,

for 2.4 million to guarantee
the collector’s early

retirement – Chola bronze
buried deep within a well

bears the scars of rope
used to lower the god

down a tunnel to safety
ducking all problems

of patrimony in other
incarnations Shiva as

phallus or lingam

the curator says of
ananda tandava

the dance of bliss –
few people will ever

become buddhas or bodhisattvas

it’s thru the deity that every-
day people enter

the supernatural world
one leg raised in the cosmic dance

freedom from the wheel of incarnation
one leg stamping out illusion

in his hair the holy Ganges
the full moon planets & stars