How Some Hindus Find… - Recours au poème

How Some Hindus Find Their Personal Gods

(for AS who wonders about ishta devtas)

It’s about learning to trust
the tug
that draws you to a shadowed alcove
in your life, undisturbed
by footfall
and butter lamps

a blue dark coolness
where you find him
waiting patiently
that perfect minor deity -

shy, crumbly,
oven-fresh, just a little
wry, content to play a cameo
in everyone’s life but your own.

A god who looks
like he could understand
errors in translation
blizzards on the screen
lapses in memory

who might even learn by rote
the fury
the wheeze
the Pali,
the pidgin,
the gnashing mixer-grinder
the awkward Remington stutter
of your heart,
who could make them his own.

After that you can settle for none other.