These Offspring of Kali

By Remigius de Souza

Goddess Kali

Kali - Goddess of Destruction and Regeneration,
is one of the three expressions of Shakti or Energy.
The other two are Lakshmi - goddess of sustenance
and Sarasvati - Goddess of Learning.

I jump on an incoming evening seven thirteen train

to secure a window seat.

As I open 'Leaves of Grass' the first line noticed,

declares, 'Sing on there in the swamp' in

the 'Memoirs of President Lincoln'.

An urchin occupies the seat next to me

With harmonium on her lap;

Her fingers wide apart, search for a pitch across

on the bars, high low, high low,

from maintain picks to deep seas.

She settles on a pitch appropriate to the crowded train

in motion, plays a pop movie song.

On the threshold of sprouting youth, her dark face

And full eyes glowed divine grace;

She is sound personified.

Her wards, two little sisters, one recites the song lines;

The other with tiny folded hands;

They appeal to the softer edges of weary home-going crowd;

They, not belonging to the mundane, remain

Untouched by hostilities or sympathies.

The Time atomised; there is no yesterday, tomorrow neither.

The concert moves to the next compartment.

They have not lost either their fragrance of innocence

Or dignity of untimely adulthood,

In the energies creative to sustain.

The last straw of hope, yet for the Post-historic

Civilization of exploitation,

These offspring of Kali, until they open

The Third Eye imminent

To make way for regeneration.

(Written, 1980s)
Notes 1: 21st century is witnessing uprisings of the poor at many places. This has been happening in the past, but now it is simultaneously a Global Action, as a result of Global Oppression by invisible tentacles of invisible global Capitalist Powers.
2: Image of Goddess Kali is one of the popular versions that are mass-printed in various sizes, available in the market.
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© Remigius de Souza., All rights reserves.