Mounam

A day of abstention in your honour.

No reading, no writing,
no art, no song,
no dance, no theatre,
no building, no shaping,
no drafting, no design,
no creating, no decoration.

But Amma, what to do about
the words that won’t leave my brain?
The song that continues to haunt?
The ideas that will not stop?
The tirades that rage on and on?
The tides of passion and apathy?
The fear that worms its way around
and the hope that never dies?

To refrain from expression is
merely the first step to inner silence.

In your honour, will I ever be able
to offer you that day, nay,
a moment of true, complete inner silence?

As I spill these words
you look upon me, mute.
I can read your silence like
an archaeologist a defunct script—
I know the words, I don’t know their meaning.
I hear your mounam,
and it says wait,
patience and silence
will bring you home to me.

Navami/Saraswati Poojai 2004

navaratri 2004

dashami 2004

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