Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kali, The Dark Goddess - Drew Hoffman
Kali, The Dark Goddess - Drew Hoffman
Kali is
Mother
Father
Creator
Life-Giver
Death-Bringer
But Kali,
My Kali,
2.
However,
There is a seed to be gleaned
Durga!
Durga!
3.
In the heart of the soldier
Thousands of miles from the home he
knows he might never see again,
There is Hope
There is Hope
Hope
Is the one thing that cannot ever be
taken from us.
4.
As men become demons
With our deceptions and insatiable
needs,
Every missile becomes the phallus
Mean nothing
We see the the child dead
Her head crushed by falling debris
5.
Now don’t misconstrue,
The male is not inherently evil
In Ultimate Reality,
Evil is a human invention
It is not found in the womb of our
creation
It is not real
Or earthly relationships;
The Union is between two polarities
When carefully cultivated
The dance of God and Goddess
She alone
Teaches the ways of the warrior.
6.
The Mahishasura
We have deluded ourselves into
becoming
Is a lie
The Prince of Lies
His saliva is venom
His words can make him President
Or King;
These are only hollow titles
As in the embrace
Of those whose foulness sickens us
7.
Yet-
There is something beyond even
Durga
Beyond the ancient
Beyond the primordial
Hush!
We cannot speak Her name!
Or can we?
Dare we cry to Her?
The devouring Terrible One!
She who abides in Darkness
Is in us, too
Within and without, the cosmic
breeze
She wears us
Like a garland of grinning skulls.
8.
Now what, you ask,
Is Beauty?
I’ll begin by telling you what Beauty is
not:
No
These things can be regarded as
“beautiful”
But they have nothing to do with
Beauty
9.
Demons, though false, replicate
Like the Hydra (like doubt)
One head is cut off
Two more replace it
Just as there will always be new
challenges
To face- Even by the most
“enlightened” soul
All must be met
Head-on with dignity and grace
And forebearance;
For you are ever the victor
So speaks many-petalled Parvati
Ensconced in the majesty of Mount
Himalaya
All-knowing,
Parvati sees the headless body of
Mahishasura
Give birth to two fears:
Sumbha and Nisumbha
We believe them
When they talk of “weapons of mass
destruction”
Asking no questions, we receive only
lies
12.
In darkness
And silence
At the very core of our being
Is the authentic Self
In darkness
She is Kali
Ego-less, nestled in amniotic fluid
Windowless as a battleground
In darkness
Quiet as the crypt
Kali’s embrace
Without bias, endless.
13.
Although everything transpires in
sight of the Goddess
She swallows
In Kali, Ourselves.
Ahimsa
I appreciate adversity
For without it, I could not grow
Coming, going
We do our busywork
To what end?
We must be rich in pocket
If not in spirit
Desire
Will keep us here
Orwellian wars
It’s easy to avert the eye
Those are not our children
Overseas, we do not know them
We only track American casualties
Karma
Will keep us here
Love is Liberation.
The Dance (For LaWanna)
Freedom
From constraint
From physicality
From the illusion of this place
Where our minds roam free
Free
To soar
To dance
Above the clouds
Above the thunderous roar
Of the angry masses
We have no need for cell phones here
No need for television or computers
Or wheelchairs
No impediments
Mother’s Attributes
1. Her Body
2. Her Tongue
3. Her Belt
I come to you
From my place of striving
I, who glory in your dark recesses,
Approach you in my disgrace
Prostrated
Low on your consecrated ground
Ash under my fingernails
My face as black as Ganges silt
My heart awaits your lotus touch
My arms reach out in embrace
The nature
Of the many-armed Mother
Is mutable; blessing disguised as curse
She is life and love and laughter
She is strife and flood and slaughter
All must be endured and appreciated
Before She grants Her one perfect kiss:
Love Everlasting.
That is why I give praise to Kali.
Kali Redemptive
I am walking alone
Seeking, searching
Listening for the sound
Of the sacred
Tones
And breathing
(In breath)
Kali
(Out breath)
Ma
And breathing
(In breath)
I am safe in the arms of my Mother
(Out breath)
To Her I surrender
To Her I surrender
Surrender
The dance begins…
The swaying of many hands
The beckoning hand
The healing hand
One hand, life-affirming
One hand, death-affirming
The hand that holds the lotus
The hand that holds the sickle
One hand, redemptive
One hand, contemplative
All in a gesture of welcoming
All signaling a homecoming
In these hands, I belong
In these hands, I surrender
Surrender
We are locked mouth to mouth
And She breathes
(In breath)
Kali
(Out breath)
Ma
She takes from me my fears
Dispelling them in Her love.