Mother's Work

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Mother's Work

 

 

 

 

 

She found me

a grey worm burrowing

under the shadow of

that great black mountain,

 

She plucked me in her

beak, carried me away and

dropped me wriggling into

the pudgy fingers of a fisherman

grasping for bait-

 

He pinched me

between his thumb and forefinger,

pushed me onto a hook

and cast me into the sea,

 

Where a giant fish

ambling with the deepest current

swallowed me in a single breath

and I became lost in that huge belly

 

Until the aging creature came

to lie in death on the ivory sand

of a warm beach and in the

final belch of his generous life,

surrendered me forth--

 

Only now I had become a he-goat,

a fiery ram with lusty beard and

horns hard as diamond and

I ran and stamped and mated -

 

I climbed mountains, crossed streams

and canyons,

 

 

 

Across the the world I ran until

my breath heaved in desperate gasps

and sighs

 

And I could only lay on the cool earth

and dream

 

Of antelope and gazelle

dancing across a wide tundra,

 

Their hearts beating slow and

watching each vaulting leap

I longed for nothing more

than to become such a

graceful being;

 

I leaped and played among these

beautiful creatures until across

the plain we came to graze at the

foot of a white mountain

 

So tall it seemed to pierce the

throne of heaven,

 

We drank, my companions

and I, until just before dark

when a lion appeared and

sprang among us, chasing

me helpless onto the mountain

slope and setting the fearful

eye of his cool dispassion upon

my trembling brow--

 

My only path was to ascend

the mountain slope.

 

He followed me and

it seemed he would never

tire, until with a last gasp

I turned to face my fate

 

and found the hunter

had disappeared -

 

 

 

I grazed on the tall mountain

grass and drank from icy streams,

 

Yet no sooner had I caught

my breath when the

mountain rumbled and heaved--

 

Before I could move,

the mountain burst with

heat and golden light

and I was thrust high into

heaven on a throne of ash,

 

Until once again She came

And gave me wings and

sprinkled them with dust,

and I became a moth

 

fluttering through

the dark sky,

attracted beyond distractions

toward a distant point of light--

 

The light grew close and

in warmth and joy

I flew closer still,

but the light

became hotter and bright,

and I gazed with feverish

passion at my delicious flame,

batted my wings and pushed

my tiny body nearer --

 

I grew weak and

the dust burned from my wings -

I fluttered on skeleton arms

toward a love I feared

would devour me,

 

Finally, weak and

stripped of the

power to fly,

I fell into the flame --

 

 

and awakened to find

myself walking the

streets of a holy city.

 

Today, drifting in

delicious tranquility,

I am discovering

the astonishing mystery

of life in the

serene fire of

Mother's

unconditional Love.

 

 

 

Madhya Nandi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madhya Nandi