bedside manners

i spent most of my time in india in bed..
there was the first bed in delhi..
cold and cuddled under wool blankets..
between indian bedspread designs..

the bed at the guesthouse with the smiling lama
who made my every wish come true..
i should have known something was up..
~ fever ~
when i kept adding blanket upon blanket,
when all i could imagine was the bed
whenever i was out and about..
in the crowd, in the midst of study, at dinner..
that bed was like some mirage afloat before me..
shimmering and warm and solitary..

the bed at chitti's home..
the best bed, the best room in the house..
the hospitality of this culture is never outdone..
peach sheets ..
the bed so much larger
than
my
last
two
narrow
singles
..where the morning tea aroma arrived
just as the sun came calling..

the hotel bed in the 5 star palace
the hotel offered a great rate because it was NEW..
while my friends went to their government meeting,
i stayed put..with sweat and wet and cashews from the mini bar..

the bed in the mountains..
the first night..
moisture in the room from leaky toiletries..
the sheets were as soaked as the floor when i awoke..
heavy, heavy blankets to keep me from ascending to heaven's gate..
the second night sharing a room w/ chitti..
dryer and warmer when a friend is near to comfort..
the fever came a' calling and we finally named it..

the hospital bed..
in a room with four other beds..
and three other patients and their companions..
and their family members to share the disease -
the bed was in a corner with a window for look-out..
they moved someone to put me there..
though they did not change the sheets that night,
the sisters..the nurses.. did the next day..
the hospital bed with IV tubes
of saline and elephant antibiotics..
every hour, sisters coming to call..
pills, temperature takings..
a loud apparatus to suck out my lungs..
a hospital bed of no rest..
yet no fever when it was time to get up
thank you very, very much ~

the airplane bed..the seat bed..on the aisle ..
with the two middle seats open
the other aisle seat occupied with a high turbaned sikh..
we took turns lying inward..
sharing blankets and pillows and coats..
while the other watched movies or slept sitting upright..

the bed at the royal seoul hotel..
an interlude between flights...
crispy white sheets..
plump perfect pillows..
a korean toilet that offered
the great mysteries of the universe..

the bed at my auntie's house
where i nest when i am home..
it is a high lair where i burrow in..
to rest the best..
the bed at home..