SHIVA

Light within and glow without
He stands upon yonder rock
One foot resting in a stoic stance
The other on his thigh was locked

On bone and meager, starved sinew
His skin was wrap’d like cloth
His arms were raised in reverence
Above his matted locks

His eyes were closed, and yet,the Gods knew
The fire that burned within
They lashed him with dark rain and wind
Yet He glowed like fire in a kiln

He stood his will on yonder rock
And it held his frame upright
It froze his mind on a single thought
While the days wailed into nights

The nights were days, and the days were weeks
And the weeks were months and years
And the countless years were a moment again
That flowed like an ever-new creek

And then the dot he saw within
For a thousand years and moreV
anished into his longing
Like a drop on a lonely shore

And within a question slowly stirred
'Why this sudden still?
Where is the sky that filled my eyes
The crescent 'pon the window sill?'

So saying the sage trained his eyes
Outward, towards the light
And there on a crag of rain-whipped stone
The Lord filled his sight

Resplendent he shone like moonwashed snow
Hugged by a deep blue sky
Ash sprinkled from his chiselled self
The earth slept to the soft lullaby

Eyes awash the sage arose
And touched himself to the ground
And on rising to HIS loving gaze
He spake with a voice newfound

'Thou knowest Lord, my destiny
And what, from you I seek.
Tis thy will that shines from the pearl
To the burnished mountain peaks'

'If it be my task to free the souls
Of my ancestors from their ash
Then grant me this boon, bear her Lord
For with boundless power, she falls'

'So be it', said the loving God
As he stood, casual, askance
He grew, the crescent kissed a passing cloud
And he shifted, to a regal stance

'Come!' he called to the far beyond
All things fell silent, still
He freed his mane of matted hair
And the heavens felt a thrill

She heard him call, and nodded assent
And tinkled her anklets sweet
With folded hands and a crescent smile
She dropped, the earth rushing to her feet

Faster than light, she flew through the void
Faster than segmented time
Droplets that strayed from her silken robes
Turned to icy, enternal chimes

Like a column of jewels, like a diamond spear
Like a bolt from Indra's bow
Like an unspoken word of unstoppable truth
She thundered towards HIS brow

The earth shuddered and the firmament shook
They felt the surge of her soul
A moment ago she was a star
And now a galaxy whole!

A thousand miles in half a blink
eons in a single sigh
She was power that roamed beyond mortal ken
And beauty that words belie

She fell with the sureness of rising dawn
But knew not what transpired
She saw him shake his night-like mane
And now, in HIS locks, she was shired

In a trice, she was freed of her playful pride
She bowed in awed reverence
With a joyous swell,she gurgled forth
And lovingly, his feet she cleansed

'It is done', said the lord of a billion suns
And of time sans end or source
Dawn came, and was warmed by his smile
While the river made its course