Ardhanareesvara
Indivisible unity, Parvati and Shiva forever entwined
Women and men interdependent, infused with traits of each other
A softer left lineament draped in finery, a muscular right stretched over taut skin
Artistry overlaying a deep philosophy of a shared destiny
Symbols, associative of power and grace
But not attributed to a dichotomous gendering.
Sages, sculptors, storytellers knew the eternal truth
That form belies essence much of the time
Masculinity and femininity are the same word,
Read in reverse
To denote the Other.
That too is an illusion
In Creation there is only One
Ardhanareesvara
The God who is both woman and man.
Easter Lilies in an Empty Home
‘Come’ they call out,
‘It’s the season of forgiveness’
A hundred lilies stand tall
Renewed by the magic of seasons
The pink stripes may be scars from yesteryear
The white streaks are healing balm
To be washed by the dew
The supple leaves
flat and curved
cradle the flowers that have no other family
Some do, maybe three lilies on a stem
But they squabble like siblings
Pushing for space
They calmly grace the garden of a silent home
The owners alive only in obituaries
The lilies don’t worry on that count
Buried bulbs know they will creep upwards in season
Life’s renewal is a beautiful certainty.
Simplicity
Simplicity is sliding a car
Into a bed of drooping pansies
In losing a slipper to the muddy rut
And still hearing the birds
On the crumbling parapet.
Simplicity is reaching for
The Gayatri Mantra when
No havan is in sight,
In waking to a ray of afternoon sun scanning the
Unwritten page of life
And yet picking words for survival.
