parallel

Maybe somewhere in India,
maybe a young English woman,
maybe a century ago.

--Old Imperial--

She asks:
what is this place?

warm
elevated
intensified

green dusk
thick scented breeze
foreign calls of exotic birds

in here we are
no longer on the outside
looking in

in here we are
comfortable

in here we are
no longer of the queer people
being frowned upon

I quite like it here
in twilight Absurdia
-- tell me,
is it safe to stay?

I've only seen so much this far
hardly anything, really
I suspect this is the capital?
how quaint.