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Goddess Kali Will Knock Your Door!

Pankhuri pays obeisance to Goddess Kali, worshipped on Diwali, reminding us of the humane and kind acts that she would enquire from us. An exclusive Special Feature for Different Truths.

This Kali Puja, the Goddess is going to come
Knocking at your door!
Just as you will be getting ready
For the festive décor, fun and frolic
Serving festival food
Lighting up candles, setting fire to crackers
Waiting to burst with amusement
And joy, the Goddess is going to ask you
 
To think of all around you
The birds’ nest in the trees
And the trees, the sky above
The creatures below, the dogs around
Running in fear, out in the streets
Looking for shelter
Looking desperately for a place to hide
A corner safe, where fire won’t reach!
 
The Goddess is going to come
Knocking at your door
Asking you to think of the child
Standing next to you
Whose thinking you are to shape
Tonight, and the next day
Will you tell him
About the love of nature
Your environmental concerns
Bordering on anxiety
As you exit, dreams alight
Embarking on vehicle
Eager to chase, pursue, realise
All the energy, festival aroma
Choking in smoke, dust, fog, haze
Every step of the way
The Goddess will ask you
About your environmental activism
Your efforts to save this planet
Even, the inclusion of your child
In it, this war, of survival
For the betterment of all
This Universe, will you make it
For the fittest only?
Or will you inculcate
Kindness, compassion
In your child and yourself?
 
The Goddess will ask you
If you will also tell your child
About her? The embodiment of female power
Incarnation of Devi Durga
Standing guard on the broad chest of Shiva
The Lord, since ages, residing on the
Lofty Himalayas, with Parvati
His consort, creator of Kali
Who completes the Trinity,
Of female prowess
With Ma Tara, benevolent
Protecting force of life
Who would take up
Any weapon to safeguard
Beauty, innocent and pristine
Representing the realm of God
The good and the godly
Killing the evil doers
Wearing a necklace of demon heads
Disciples of Narkasur
The demon leader making troubles
After pleasing Shiva! Shankar, the peacemaker,
Lied down in Kali’s path
Once enough evil was destroyed!
And the stream of blood
Threatened all!
 
This Kali Puja, the Goddess will
Remind you if you remember
Narkasura? Narka Chaturdashi?
As you worship, the Neelkanth
Bearing the angry Goddess
Containing the wrath of the struggle
The Goddess will ask you
If you thought about the lonely
The widows, the orphans
Desolate desert dwellers
Soldiers and hookers?
Did you send them a token of love?
And to all around you
The speechless, the numb?
This Kali Puja, the Goddess will
Knock at your door!

Visual by Different Truths

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Pankhuri Sinha
Pankhuri Sinha is a bilingual Indian poet and writer. Ten anthologies published, other than many journals, anthologies, home and abroad. Won many prestigious, national-international awards, including the Seemapuri Times Rajeev Gandhi Excellence award, awards in Chekhov festival in Yalta and in Premio Besio Poetry competition in Italy, Sahitto award in Bangladesh, and Premio Galateo in Italy for poetry in mother tongue. Also, awarded by Albania, Nigeria, Romania, etc. Translated in 26 languages.
1 Comments Text
  • Lovely about your poem Dear Pankhuri, especially for your concern for “asking you to think of the child standing next to you” .
    Nice poem kindling societal commitments. Let knock the souls of our fellow persons and make awareness about children, women, workers and all marginalized sections of people. All the Best.

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