SONGS OF MIRABAI ~

 

Some Songs of Mirabai

           ________________________

paga bandha ghumgharyam nacyari

Binding my ankles with silver

I danced —

people in town called me crazy.

She'll run the clan

said my mother-in-law,

and the prince

had a cup ofvenom delivered.

I laughed as I drank it.

Can't they see?

Body and mind aren't something to lose,

the Dark One's already seized them.

Mira's lord can lift mountains,

he is her refuge.

mhare dere ajyo

Come to my bedroom,

I've scattered fresh buds on the couch,

perfumed my body.

Birth after birth I am your servant,

sleep only with you.

Mira's lord does not perish —

one glimpse of the Dark One is all she requests.

jagamam jivana thora

Life on this planet is fragile,

why take up a burden?

From mother and father

come birth,

but from the font of creation comes karma.

People waste life,

heaping up merit like they're buying and selling —

it's pointless.

I sing out the raptures

of Hari, go into passions with sadhus,

nothing disturbs me.

Mira says — it's your power Dark One,

but it's me who crosses

the limits.

nenam lobham atakam

Wolfish eyes fixed on the Dark One,

hungry, restless,

scouring every inch of his body.

When he came into view

smiling faintly,

lit up with moonlight.

I nearly collapsed by the door.

My family speaks of their plans

to restrain me

but my eyes flash through every obstruction.

Don't they know somebody's claimed me?

I lift to my forehead

every word uttered,

some ugly, some tender —

without the Dark one's approval

nothing survives.

kina sang khelum holi

Terrible solitude

festival day

now that he's gone.

Damn these rubies and pearls,

I'll string devotional beads

at my throat.

And here's an old hermit cloak —

now that fod and house

are distasteful

it matches my feelings.

What makes me like this?

It's a riddle.

You take me to bed

then go off and fuck

some other girl.

Does she have you under her spell

that you can't even write me?

Mira's bundle of nerves in your absence.

Look at her,

an unwatered weed when the

Dark One's away, 

            she wilts in the rubble.

______________________

Songs of Mirabai

translated by Andrew Schelling

White Pine Press, 2024

COMPANION FOR THE JOURNEY VOLUME 31

LOOKING FOR DRAGON SMOKE ~

A R C H I V E 

 R E A D





White Pine Press
2019

RENGETSU (Otagaki Nobu, 1791-1875) ~

    

 from Lotus Moon

Blackened Thing


Another year passes:

On my kitchen shelf

Something blackened

With soot —

A little Buddha image.






Seeing Young Nuns On
Their Begging Rounds


First steps on the

Long path to Truth:

Please do not dream

Your lives away,

Walk on to the end.






When People Tease Me About My
Constant Change Of Residence



A floating cloud,

Drifting about

Playfully

Here and there

Not wanting to fade away.







The Oni



Do not resist, (Mr. Onu):

Open the lotus inside

And overturn

All those demons

In your heart!






Heart




Coming and going,

Without beginning or end,

Like ever changing

White clouds:

The heart of things.






The Pleasures of Calligraphy



Taking up the brush

Just for the joy of it,

Writing on and on,

Leaving behind

Long lines of dancing letters.







Incense Burner



A single line of

Fragant smoke

From the incense stick

Trails off without a trace:

One's heart, as well?







A Life of Retirement



Reside in a living landscape

And it becomes yours:

Daikon dry along the fence,

Trees full of chestnuts

Brush against the eaves.






Thoughts While Making
A Flower Pot



Dew and butterflies are

Attracted to flowers of

Certain scent and color:

Do they have

Favorites too?







Digging Clay And Making A Vase



Taking the fragile

Little handmade

Things to sell —

How lonely it looks

In the market place!




_________________

Lotus Moon
Rengetsu
translated by John Stevens
White Pine Press
2005