Wednesday, October 23, 2019

A Poem by Athena Kashyap



Letter from a 17th Century Devadasi to her Ghungaroos

Image result for devadasi


Together, we entered hushed halls packed
with luminaries--our king, head priests,

war heroes, the richest traders, and my lover,
soft chimes of your multitudinous bells in solid gold 

tied to the pillars of my legs, scores of eyes
within each bell roving side to side, gazing out

at the world, awake and awakening. 
My companion through my greatest triumphs, 

tender intimacies, my legs guided you, taming 
your wild energy. My arms, twin arcs of desire,

framed my head and chest; my back, 
an undulating bow, the string so taut it emanated

waves of desire, vibrations that permeated
the room, zeroing in on my lover. He’d sit 

entranced through our dance, shuddering
at the climax when both my feet pounded the ground

so hard your cries rang out as your myriad bells split
open the air so that, momentarily, one could not even

breathe. The halls are silent now, have been 
for many hundreds of years, great love a thing

of the past. My spirit never left though, wandering 
these lonely hallways where once love lived.

Today, a new hall has taken its place, one
where celluloid screens of men and women

enacting love, play and replay all day and night. 
Women gyrate obscenely, miming

empty songs that emulate the grunts
of hogs in heat. How it makes me laugh--

they forced our schools of love shut
for this! Worse still, the women who bear

the name of our tradition--Devadasis--
evergreen wives of God

are now mere prostitutes, unwanted 
by their mothers and fathers,

sold as meat, for men to appease
their lust. Desolate, desolate, I cannot even

cry, my throat parched with grief. Your bells
are silenced now forever. I did it myself, 

smothered you in the softest muslin cloth,
covered your eyes, muted your bells

buried you deep under these very floors.
Remember our times together--the whole

of me moving to the whole of you,
your myriad chimes, creating a dance

of love and life, the crowds’ thunderous
applause growing louder, louder--

until the last quiver of muscle and bell is spent
arousing love for the long night ahead

(with the author's permission)