Kuruntokai 393

So few, really
were the days
your lover crushed your garland
of mixed flowers
in his clasp.

But O the scandal!

It was the far louder
than the clamor
of the Konkars flashing their blades

when Atikan,
commander of the Pantiya,
that king of the golden armor,
fell
with his elephant
in the wide field of Vakai

where the only wild fowl
were owls.