Ngaben: at Pangkung Tiba Beach, Bali
by James Penha
The crematorium gate is open to the sea tumbling against the sand, rumbling eternally, waiting. As always. Mourners surround the pyre devouring the golden adornments first then the father mother son daughter uncle aunt I do not know whom I am here only for the spectacle. The salty air mitigates corporeal incense, and when the flames have given up the ghost, collected ashes are carried to the waves.
James Penha
Expat New Yorker James Penha (he/him) has lived for the past three decades in Indonesia. Nominated for Pushcart Prizes in fiction and poetry, his work is widely published in journals and anthologies. His newest chapbook of poems American Daguerreotypes is available for Kindle. Penha edits The New Verse News, an online journal of current-events poetry.
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Comments
A lovely sense of ceremony you've captured here, James with the beach and the mourners and the secluded observer taking it all in. Many thanks.