Hanukkah in Bali

Our bathroom is outdoors at this hotel:
a patio fenced with fan palms and bamboo.
Geckos hide in toilet paper rolls
and the toilet gapes at pink sunset.

You light your first candle and sing
Baruch ata Adonai . . .
A curious parrot, lured by your voice,
flies to the sink and pecks at your toothbrush.

With two candles, you join milions in snow,
your faith in light increasing day by day.
The parrot and I watch
the wax melt.

They say evil spirits thrive in silence
and wait to attack in dark jungle hush.
Will we survive the night?
Is my name in your prayers enough?