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Burning the Pieta

Thoughts After Viewing Public Cremations at
the Pashupatinath Temple Complex in Kathmandu, Nepal

—for Alok

With tears wash fallen feet which once had stood
To face a fated life with wonder and desire.
Inhale the smoke and ash of flesh and wood;
Breathe in the acrid air of sorrowed fire.

The end of a beginning yet begun,
As what remains of what once was is cast
Into the stream and what is done is done,
The mask remains, to grieve past futures passed.

Tomorrows live us into life and death
As cycles lead us to enlightenment,
Perhaps, or to inhale inspired breath,
Eternal life a present heaven-sent.

Like incense, death by fire is consumed.
And so through death and ash is life resumed.

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Poet’s Note: The temple, on the banks of the Bagmati River, is the most important Hindu temple and pilgrimage site in Nepal. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

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James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and four collections of poetry including Sidekicks, Mostly Sonnets, and Laughing Matters, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in both print and online media. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.

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11 Responses

  1. James Sale

    A beautiful piece, James: it has a meditative serenity about it, as well as the great closure that the sonnet form enables. Very fine writing.

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    James, precious poem on the cycles of life that confront us and yet gives hope for the future.

    Reply
  3. Paul A. Freeman

    Very vivid, and good use of each quatrain to delve into and expand the topic of each.

    Impressive photography, too.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
  4. Joseph S. Salemi

    This sonnet is as much about life as it is about death. Two quatrains and the closing couplet contain the words “life” or “live.”

    The structure of the sonnet is perfect and the diction is lovely. But I think there is an extra foot in line two that gives the line six beats instead of five. If the word “fated” were removed, the line would become a pentameter like all the rest.

    Reply
  5. James A. Tweedie

    Note: I submitted this as a Good Friday poem (see the use of the word, “Pieta” in the title) for, among other things, it is intended as a meditation on the atoning death of Christ as an alternative to the cycles of reincarnation central to Hinduism. This alternative is located in the use of the pivotal word, “or” in line 11:

    As cycles lead us to enlightenment,
    Perhaps, OR to inhale inspired breath,
    Eternal life a present heaven-sent.

    The Christian embrace of “die but once” (Hebrews 9:11) and resurrection to eternal life (by grace through faith in the atoning death of Jesus) stands in contrast to the idea of reincarnation, a fated (Buddhist) or karmic (Hindu) cycle of life and death (a concept also found in Greek philosophy).

    Hinduism is a complex, interwoven tapestry of cosmologies and the poem was written to reflect some of this, as well, out of respect for the friend for whom it was written when we were together in Nepal two weeks ago–written the same day the photographs were taken.

    Reply
    • Dan Davis

      I felt the weight of that ‘or’, it is a well executed turning point.

      Reply
  6. Adam Sedia

    This was a captivating piece. Not a subject one sees often (in a poem or in person). I love to see how your travels produce poetry.

    Like other readers, I found your incorporation of Hindu (and perhaps Buddhist) cosmology into your argument without wholly giving over to it. Submitting it for Good Friday was a good call; it is an apt memento mori, a contemplation of life, death, and eternity.

    Reply
  7. Margaret Coats

    James, this thoughtful but seemingly dispassionate reflection presents a variety of emotions about death. I find cremation a horror to contemplate (however and wherever done), yet your words that speak of tears and sorrow and grief in the process are themselves a passage of “sorrowed fire” about “what is done is done.” The technique of repetition seems to alleviate the subject, as does your subtly contrasting Christian consideration of what you recently witnessed.

    Reply
  8. Dan Tuton

    James, as one who plunged headlong into Eastern spirituality in my 20s, then was won over to following Christ by a rather dramatic conversion experience some 40 years ago, this was especially meaningful to me. I heard clearly the hope-filled reference in the third stanza: “Eternal life a present heaven-sent.” I am now a retired Episcopal priest doing on-call work as a hospice chaplain. Similar words of hope have smoothed the transition from this life for many believers. Beautifully written.

    Reply
    • James A. Tweedie

      Dan, I’m sorry to have missed your comment from 2 weeks ago. I greatly appreciate it for many reasons, not the least being how my RN wife and I, along with an RN member of the church I was serving in Logan, Utah, co-founded, incorporated and organized what was, in 1980, only the second Hospice program in the four-state Intermountain West. Hospice of Cache Valley was then totally volunteer but is now woven into the fabric of Logan Regional Hospital. I served as Board President for five years until we relocated to California. Thank you again for your kind comment and God bless you for your work with Hospice.

      Reply

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