Kali
Mother - the world is fearsome,
Let me stay in your belly,
I beg you chew me with your sharp teeth,
And dissolve me within you.(5)
Oh Karankini, do not let me escape your grips,
Ghosts and goblins in the cremation ground,
Are one thousand times better than maya.(4)
Oh Krodhana, have mercy on me,
Let the fire of your rage burn me alive,
And dissolve me in your purity.(4)
Bhairavi, break down the shackles of difference,
And you Lelihana, swallow my very being,(4)
For when I am in you,
I am you and you are me.
When you make me something,
I am me and you are you.(4)
Let Khecari be in charge,
And let me be nothing again.(4)
kAlI monologue poems
X. Kali Sings
I break the earthy shackles of Daksa,
And soar above the skies of Kailash,
And break my bonds with Kamesha,
Just to immolate in smith’s furnace.
You Shiva can hold my body,
I am but a free spirit,
Roaming in all directions,
In the realms of fancy and dreams,
My father is a mountain man,
I am but a black girl,
Playing with skulls of Viras, the brave ones,
Who dared and expressed their desire for me.
Dancing in the lands of death,
Being wrapped with conflagration,
We shall unite again and again,
When I offer time, my love, in my plate again.
I burn as hunger and desire,
I burn in every craving and every zeal,
The tapas I do of love,
Is how I find myself in thee.
In despair and longings and tragedies and tears,
I am but a volcano of life, a hurricane of living.
I eat death and sleep in the ring of fire,
I am Lalita the love, burning as Candi, the fury of separation.
In every pain and all the burns,
In every cut and all the tears,
Like the wick soaking the oil,
I am the juice in every fruit.
When I ignite, I burn your tears,
When I roar, I cry your pain,
I immolate myself every time,
For you to see me within.
XI. My Sisters
Five virgins, eight mothers, nine sisters,
Radiant, all Daksa’s girls,
Drunken, aroused, and ruling the world.
Alone I live in a remote cave.
My sisters soar high in the sky,
Dancing and mating with modes of time.
Weaving galaxies, breathing life,
I rejoice watching their dance.
My sisters rule the magic farm,
Printing their love in every plant,
With their breath do blossom the plants,
And their dance gives life a chance.
Some dance on the mountain tops,
And others in cremation grounds,
Some give life and some give death,
With just a kiss or a single gaze.
Some teach, some herd, and the others fool,
Some play with birds and others with wheels,
Some dig holes and some sell sex,
Some are rich and others senile.
I love my cave, my sisters, the world.
For love, I walk with my sisters twice.
Once with Shambhu, the first dance of love,
Next with Shumbha, the last dance of death.
I am the balm when my sisters burn,
I am the bandage when my sisters cut,
I am the nectar when my sisters hurt,
I am salvation from my sisters’ web.
My sisters ride on eros and death,
When they dance on the songs of despair,
My sisters are in me, I am nowhere.
In my no time, I make all dreams.
XII. The Skull-cup
I drink liquor in Brahma’s skull,
And as Vama, vomit the world,
The events before and after the drink,
Make the difference of chaos and order.
I drink blood in Vishnu’s skull,
And give meaning to forms and words,
I mate with Gopis in cremation grounds,
And see myself with your eyes.
I drink soma in Shiva’s skull,
Filled with sperms of Bhairo, the bliss,
And bring down Indra’s net,
And dance alone in lonely nights.
I am bliss in between the breaths,
And the joys in all the joints,
I, the bliss, breathe life in all,
I am the dance in all the forms.
As Chamunda, I drink your love,
And as Yama, I eat doubts,
The earth is my cup, you are my drink,
As Rudra I cry, as Kali I laugh.