Classic Poem

Seizing cows from the city of Kantaram where the liquor
ferments well, like the ripened fruit of the karai bush
with its thorny stalks, he traded them for toddy,
which he drank. Then he ate fresh meat and wiping his hand
still moist with spit on the body of his bow,
he went off to the field of battle, the young man
with the meager beard! Before these warriors have had their meal,
he'll bring back cows and he'll fill the squares of their city
with the herds! Don't let anyone touch those jars of drink
that have been sweetly aged, because the man
will be dusty and tired from raiding and he will want that liquor!