These Rainy September Days

by Ananya S. Guha / September 28th, 2025

The god man sits atop
A mythic mountain, Kailash;
Matted hair with trident in hand
The Goddess will arrive on earth
And who better to oversee it
Than him, her husband? These rainy October days ?
There will be a festival, when she treads on soil
And the dark raiment of the earth will be transformed into goodness

I hid behind a tree to catch a glimpse of Parvati
And her dancing maidens

She slays the demon en route to Earth, and, the demons that we grapple with,
Her consorts are there,witness to retribution
She is ten armed with a third eye;
She will be worshipped successively for three days
And on the fourth she will bid good bye
She is Durga, Parvati, Kali, her daughters: Laxmi
Saraswati and her sons: Ganesh and Kartik

I caught a glimpse of Parvati and her dancing consorts, peace o peace, Goddess on earth,
Forgive us for reigning terror on each other
Fractious world as we are, with our daredevilry

But for these three to four days we will make merry
And then the world for fraction will become a huge thunderous , dark, clapping cloud
Because we will mourn your departure
I hide behind a tree to catch a glimpse of You
And your dancing maidens

Peace, peace, peace…
Let us catch the demons and manacle them
In prisons, so that this world is pacific

Lord with the matted hair, glorious trident
In hand bless us and demolish Janus faced monsters, as Durga, Parvati and Kali the trinity,
Visit our land

I catch a glimpse of Parvati and her dancing maidens, even as the demon attacks the Goddess, but She with trident in hand slays him with delectable ease or force

“Shanti, Shanti, Shanti”

I caught a glimpse of Parvati and her dancing maidens

The third eye is ominous
The ten arms deathly

I hid behind a tree to catch a glimpse of Parvati and her dancing maidens,
These rainy September days…

*****

Note: In India, especially in the East and North East the Mother Goddess is worshipped, every year in the months of September-October. Clay idols of her along with her pantheon are made, where the diabolical ‘Satan’ is depicted as being slain.

Ananya S Guha lives in Shillong in North East India, where he was born and brought up. He has been writing and publishing his poetry for the last forty years. His poetry has been published in both electronic and print formats such as: Indian Literature, Other Voices, Osprey Journal, Glasgow Review, The Literary Nest, Up The Staircase, Asia Writes, Art Arena, Praxis Online, Muse India, Your One Phone Call, In Between Hangovers, The Peeking Cat Magazine, Post Colonial Text among others. He has also written widely on educational and social matters. He has ten collections of poetry and his poetry has been anthologized in various collections of Indian poetry in English. He holds a doctoral on the novels of William Golding. Read other articles by Ananya S..

This article was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2025 at 8:00am and is filed under Poetry.