THE GODDESS OF SHOWING UP

–for Mohini Sharma

 

Mohini, our shining star

a slayer of demons long before we met

& don’t get sweet or humble like you do

I checked Wikipedia & it’s the second paragraph under your LEGENDS

 

& you might tell me I’m mistaken

that I was looking at the Goddess

I assure you

I looked at The Goddess when I saw you

I learned your name thereby I learned hers

the glory of magic, of illusion, of truth! 

beckoning us into the Maya we share

 

no way out but through

as above so below

as within so without

never broken by the truth

like the way the forge sees the value of will

 

flowing through this destructive dance

the body of our polity aching

this too is magic, is illusion, is truth

what else could a Goddess do but show up for the work?

not one single soul in this world is alone.

 

bereft, we began building equity in our hearts

we went out into the streets with cries for justice

the swell rising like our selfsame ocean of sorrow

our arctic traumas breaking away into the waters in big chunks

 

the faces of a thousand allies breaking up on the shore

the screams fading into the hushhush waves on sand

as it is our future it is our history

you sit on the bluff & your cry is like the last eagle

 

Mohini, our shining star, touch your own head

reduce the demons of our burnout to ashes

illuminate the night sky with hope.

We’re here for it.