To the Divine Mother within us all

Divine Mother, forgive us ungrateful children

Who have not cherished you as deserved

Who have not understood your complete nature

Who have, for eons, taken you for granted

Mistaking you for mere canvas

That passively adorns the colours of life

A mere vessel to carry little egos ashore

Cradling our lofty ambitions

Whilst we pillage your heart

O Sovereign Empress of the Cosmos

Our souls cry; we must make amends

For ignorance prolonged

Beckons its own death

And that of its kin

Without hesitation you left the throne

And conceded your Self to part

Effortlessly dancing us into existence

Weaving humanity’s heart

And innumerable flora and fauna

With your silken threads of Love

All races, genders, castes and creeds

Strung together in one blood line

As an infant in innocence may proudly claim

To have gathered the entire ocean

In a little plastic bucket

Only a fool would try to confine

That which is limitless

We marvel at the majesty of mountains,

We find sanctuary in woodlands deep,

We are enraptured by galactic mysteries,

And when too many liberties are taken,

Nature humbles us with her many ferocious faces

How may we understand her

The Source of all paradox

In your humility, you are content

To appear as the moon

Bathed in borrowed light

Only those who see from the soul

Know that your ineffable radiance

Would engulf even a thousand suns

How naive and misguided, we forgot our heritage

And drifted too far from home

Unable to perceive your light,

We assumed ourselves lost in the mire

Of delusion and darkness

How were we to know

Your very hand that casts the shadow

Can remove itself at will

Revealing nothing more, or less

Than what always was: peace, love, eternal safety

But when, Ma? Why such delay?

There’s nowhere left to hold humanity’s anguished cries

Seas too saline, rainclouds exhausted,

The Earth, mirroring each fracture we suffer,

Is aging before its time

Bravehearts: the time has come

Not for consolation, but for healing

The seeping wound of human despair

For despite the chaos and turmoil,

Either cocooned away in quiet corners

Or hidden in plain sight,

Her secrets are beginning to unfold,

Gently lifting the suffocating veils of swaddling

That bind her children in false comfort

Her gift is freedom, should we wish to receive it

The caged bird may tremble when the door is first opened

But the deep pull to freedom emboldens it

Something stirs from within

The bird shakes off the old, spreads its wings

And victoriously glides out

Mother watches and smiles

Kiruthika Rajeswaran