Liberation: Shiv Tattva, and: Liberation: Summit, and: The Goddess Incarnates, and: Cow Dust Hour, and: Emancipation

Liberation: Shiv Tattva, and: Liberation: Summit, and: The Goddess Incarnates, and: Cow Dust Hour, and: Emancipation Nidhi Agrawal (bio) Shiv Tattva On some days,I am Sati.On some days,I am Parvathi.You created me and filled me withMaya (Illusion).Set me free.I offer my sins (Pap) and piety (Punya)At your feet to becomeEmpty and hollow.Will you become Gunagrahin (Acceptor of gunas) to consume my righteousness?I ask you,Will you become Hara (Remover of sins)To cleanse your creation?I am your Sati,I am your Parvathi.You have to liberate me from the cycle ofBirth and Death,Only then,Shiva Tattva will blossomBetween us, Shiva! Summit Enough of preying on my flesh.Sucking my bloodWon't take you to heaven.When your fervor devour is done,Kali will consume you. [End Page 75] The Goddess Incarnates At midnight, on a seat of five skullsI worship the slayer of illusions,The Maharaja (King) gifted me thirty—threeAcres of rent—free earth, 1I have planted seeds of your devotion (Bhakti)In the soil of my bones to perform corpse rituals.The world calls me mother—crazy and love—mad,Your status comes alive in my skeleton,Oh, Mother Kali! Tell meIf the Goddess incarnates. [End Page 76] Cow Dust Hour I dwell on the ferocious cremation groundsYearning for my Mother Kali!She carries waxing gibbous on her forehead,The Sun grows larger in her right pupil,The Moon drips from the two corners of her left eye,She burns the demons in the catacomb of her three eyes.You cannot carry her consort in your palm,He keeps her love and fury in the ocean of his heart. I am restless, this longing to meet myMother will swallow me.Oh, Mother! I have transposed to a ghoulYour disciples are my friends now.They claim,Between the day and night–When twilight rises to the throat of the sky,The hours of Sun and darkness make love,There is no period of half—light,I will meet you at,The time of Union. [End Page 77] Emancipation My eyes brim with the weight of dusk,Emotions conflagrate in my heartBurning the corpse without fuel.This dawn I am returning to my houseTo constellate my belongings. The entrance is clouded by theScattered scars of my childhood,Every drawer is sealed with the secrets ofMy disappointments.Today, I let go of my failures and riseFrom the floor,As soot rises from the throat.With every effort to clean the houseMy spine travels to the nucleus of my brainShowing me the way to the bedroom. At the bedroom's door,I stand startled by the view.The Mother Goddess is coming togetherWith the God of Mountains,Consuming my form and liberating meFrom prison. Nidhi Agrawal nidhi agrawal has a background in communication design in health, media and entertainment spaces. She strongly feels that poetry is a deal of joy, she is the author of the poetry collection, "Confluence". Her work has been published in California State Poetry Society, University of Tennessee, Chronogram Media, Yale University, South Asian Today, Indian Periodical, Spill Words Press, Rising Phoenix Review, and Setu Journal, and elsewhere. She lives in Bihar, India. notes 1. Ramprasad Sen, (flourished 18th century), Shakta poet-saint of Bengal. Ramprasad is reputed to have composed some 100,000 songs, some of which became extremely popular among his followers, who regard them as sacred mantras. The goddess Ramprasad portrays is sometimes beautiful, nurturing, and even erotic and at other times grotesque, dangerous, and fickle. Ramprasad contributed to a revival of Shaktism and Tantrism in Bengal and also, in the wake of increased Western presence in India, identified the goddess with Moses and Jesus as well as with the Hindu deities. Copyright © 2023 University of North Dakota