By Srilakshmi Adhyapak
The plains stretched vast golden,
Sunbaked, into spidery crevices broken.
Heat in swirling dust filled miasma,
Stifling life’s breath, spanning death’s chiasma.
Soldiers in swarms dense geometric,
Charged forth in an array concentric.
Battle cries in shrieks deafening,
A fearsome mime grotesque, ear splitting.
Earth rises in waves blood flecked golden,
Dry plains splashed with blood pools molten.
Leading his armies into battle destructive,
He strove to form a force aggressive.
Many a victory won amidst strife teeming,
Lost lives mourned in a trice, war resuming.
Weary in mien, his anguish rose,
His quivering heart beseeched in prose.
Shoulders sagging, under gloom onerous,
His forehead touched the earth wondrous.
There she stood, dark as the moonless night,
Her tresses ebony filling the sky in light infinite.
Eyes calm and limpid seemed,
Pools placid, an unearthly serenity teemed.
Kneeling low he beheld,
A luminous stretch, the milky way swelled.
Her hair dark its sheen unearthly,
As the milky way spanning galaxies heavenly.
Her form dark as the inky cape of night,
In her hands clasped a weapon of might.
An arc silvery in contrast stark,
Time opportune of momentous spark.
In a trice, into haze thin she vanished,
Plains stained with blood of vanquished.
Her sword in front of him lay,
He clasped with reverence, his foes to slay.
Praying to her, the mother divine,
Creator, preserver and destroyer, a celestial alloy combined.
Vigor renewed, nectar springs amidst sands arid,
He fought bravely with Bhavani’s sword avid.
Body and mind renewed, teeming,
Seas of turbulence parted into focus seeming.
Battle’s tide in his favor turned,
Victory exulting from all corners, defeat spurned.
The benevolent mother, her grace supreme,
A mere glance bestowing fortune in reams.