Shakambhari is a Hindu goddess, who upon witnessing a terrible drought, created eyes across her entire body and wept continuously for nine days, pouring rivers down onto the earth.
& what can we coax
out of this earth’s rotation
but knowledge of such magnitude,
as in: how many rivers are needed
to holy the body & at what point
does a fissure birth a break & when
will we learn it is in our nature to
scorch the earth and then weep over
the conflagration. & even sightless
I knew to be careful with my potential
for damage, every illuminated ribbon
behind my eyelids denoting continued
vigilance, though the sound of a pattering,
steadily repeated, can lull you into
complacency. & bottomless depths
are constructed only from sourceless
drops & I can smell the petrichor, I can
see every scar on the earth, I have never
been blinded by the deluge. I could not
fall sleep amidst my watchful keening.
