The Dance of Kali

I'm still running short of words to express this gnawing grief....

In the middle of nowhere 

I was searching for some place

My mind was cluttered with darkness

as I could hear the clangorous bells...

I tried to grapple them & silence all the pain

as the ringing amplified

I screamed again & again.....

I clung the rope tying them

& slew in the gurgling monstrosity

it opened it's mouth like Kali

& the tongue lapped it in a second..

as it roared & laughed & shook me to my very spine,

I could feel myself mounting the 'holy' divine...

At first,ahead the platform I felt his feet for sure

numb & lifeless yet my only shore..

so I began to climb that huge cemented corpse

I felt the knees further above,

then the grotesquely torn thighs

the loin cloth ahead 

surmounting the waist

& further up above the sturdy chest

Oh!the muscular shoulder reached out in behest

so

I felt now

I'm far above it's reach

Aye! the tongue lapped & lolled

as life knelt to beseech...

& before I could catch a breath 

it's cold kiss bruised my knee

....now this fatigued body had to climb the head

how helplessly I trembled as every ounce of life bled

It was no more a question of righteousness or faith

as something got ripped well underneath

 

so,finally I mounted the floating head 

as water rushed in me

I felt like shrieking "help"

as I caught a branch of tree

but it was just a 'glub'or a 'glurb'

Ah!what more could one plea?

as came a floating hand clutching a pack of $100 cookies

halted to my right...probably help me..

a pair of legs with new sports shoes

rested left to me...

as if to make this running-for-life little easy

As the dance of Kali 

gyrated in beat & rhythm

it thumped,roared & engulfed

everything in tandem

as the fury danced night over the day

all mumbled a prayer with sheer dismay

"what sacrifice or sorry will appease O holy thee?

we spineless speechless creatures are at your mercy"

I was limp & lifeless as she engulfed the whole of me

& now the world wonders why I walk as a zombie?

Author's Note

With more than 20,000 people affected (dead,injured,missing) Uttarakhand(a part of north India) is facing one of the worst natural/environmental/man-made calamity of all times in human history...lack of disaster management has further amplified this crisis....to know more about it you can search it on google or youtube...I'm unable to express the excruciating pain & helplessness I experience after reading the stories & reports related to this national calamity..I wonder what comfort will our disdain bring when our rivers run dry, air turns to smoke, and the mountains come tumbling down?

Reviews

[Shweta Singh]

This poem is not meant to depict or promote any religion..the usage of Shiva & Kali in the first & last para is as metaphors...there are two types of dances performed by Shiva/Kali..."taandav" or the dance of death & "laasya" or the dance of happiness&love,leading to the cycle of birth......here the monstrously gurgling & gorging river is compared with the Kali performing "taandav"or her dance of death...as one rests & climbs the statue of Shiva (the god symbolizing death & destruction)as that was the tallest structure (100 meters) to save one's life..but it along with faith & hope gets ripped apart as the river devours ALL...
the 1st & the 2nd picture is of the same statue before & after it started...thousands of building along with this statue have been washed off..I uploaded the pics to make the imagination of disaster more vivid...the 3rd image is of Kali,to provide an illustration for the metaphor used.

[Onku Ghosh]

Very powerful piece of writing.......vividly describes the plight of the people( in this case you) who have unwittingly been caught in the tentacles of this tragedy.
Great write,Shewta

[Shweta Singh]

Thanks Onkudi, I'm running short of words to express that how much it means to me when such a review comes from your part!Thanks for taking your time out to read it :D

[Onku Ghosh]

My pleasure. You write so beautifully......i would like to read all your poems.

[Shweta Singh]

Yay!! I'm on cloud 9 !!! I'll wait for your feedback & suggestions..

[Zelle]

this is indeed an awesome write...
very expressive and perhaps depicts your anguish and concern..
thank u for sharing this!

[Shweta Singh]

Thank you Zelle for taking your time out...I appreciate the fact that you could really feel the desperation & anguish..take care :)

[Avinash]

How we have treated mother nature. We have made the once beautiful mountains naked by cutting down trees and stealing the abode of animals. We deserve this wrath of nature. We have brought this upon us. We deserve every bit of misery. Because greed of human being is destroying the whole world and yes if so happens that for the survival of earth humanity has to disappear, it will. And to execute that Kaali is a great metaphor.

[Shweta Singh]

Thanks for taking your time out to read it Avinash....yes,this is an issue which needs to be contemplated & worked out meticulously,else nature's wrath is awaited for all..

[sakshi arora]

Beautifully penned lovely work

[Shweta Singh]

Thanks Sakshi :)

[Allen Smuckler]

Powerful and excruciatingly painful...
every raw emotion comes spewing forth in metaphorical cadence....
descriptive and vividly told and felt, Shweta
The numbers you speak of, like so many other catastrophic events in the world, are becoming more commonplace and accepted as acts of God. Quite frankly it is still hard for me to wrap my head around....but we become numb to the tragedies and rather turn our blind eye(s) to ease our own guilt and helplessness than continue to lend support.
You profoundly stated what needs to be stated...with great thought and passion.
Continue to sing the song, Shweta
allen

[Shweta Singh]

I'll keep singing with friends like you by my side...Allen..... :D
I was apprehensive whether the metaphors were too loud to be taken but your kind words instill my faith that the depiction is loud & clear...reading it along,one can imagine that feeling of sheer hopelessness ...over-exposure to such news globally,on a regular basis has numbed us down till we face it..I contribute my own bit to lessen the pain & exploitation but it feels like a trickle in the ocean...
Thanks for taking out your precious time Allen to review it :)

[Ronald J Chapman]

i am happy to see you added the pictures. The pictures do help to understand.
I've run into this situation too. If people do not know or the culture and history. They may not understand the words. This is why I also put notes to the reviewer and mark the poem type regional.

[Shweta Singh]

Thanks Ronald....your review was really helpful ...especially adding the regional tag to it...I will appreciate if you come up with more suggestions related to the style or content or any other aspect of this poem... :)

[Ronald J Chapman]

Your welcome.

[Friday]

A very vivid piece. Kali is much overemphasized I think. India suffers way too often it seems to me. It's been years since I was there but will it ever end?

[Shweta Singh]

Thanks for sparing out your precious time to read it dear...I've written a review after the note & hope it helps you to understand my perspective whereby I used Kali only as a metaphor to depict death & deluge...India suffers primarily due to overpopulation,poverty,corruption,mismanagement & geographical location...I'd really appreciate if you read it again after going through my note & review as I wish to receive more suggestions for any scope of improvement..Thanks :)

[Sami Khalil]

I have read your author's note and I felt the anger and frustration along with you and many Indians . It is a calamity indeed. About the poem I'm not familiar much with the Hindu religion or their holy dances if there is such a thing but I know it is special for you and had deep meanings that touches your soul...A splendid work...
Keep your voice heard ...:)

[Shweta Singh]

My dear cherished poet,I really thank you to absorb most of it & empathize with the situation..you review gave me the insight about what more needed to be explained to the audience visiting & reading it...I've added a review & hope it adds to your info. to give you a better understanding of this pictorial/metaphorical description of the disaster...please re-read it & let me know if it has any bottlenecks still.I'll try to improve it.
Thanks a lot for being here :)

[Sami Khalil]

Wow. That is a great idea. You are welcome...:)