Devi…

On this sacred Thaipoosam morning,

I am nothing but a breath held in your palm.

Every step I take feels borrowed 

taken only because your grace allows it.

The world may see the kavadi,

the piercings, the fasting, the flames.

But you know the truth:

the real offering is the heart

I’ve placed trembling at your feet.

When the chants rise,

I feel your presence

like warm ash settling on my skin 

a reminder that everything I am

belongs to you.

Mother,

I do not come to bargain,

nor to ask for miracles.

I come only to dissolve 

to melt the edges of “me”

until only your stillness remains.

In the press of the crowd,

in the sharpness of pain,

in the weight of vows carried for miles,

I feel your compassion

flow like a hidden river.

Every pang is a cleansing.

Every tear is a liberation.

Every heartbeat is a whispered mantra

calling your name again and again.

Today, Devi,

let my devotion be simple,

naked,

undistracted.

Let this life

be an instrument in your hands.

Let this mind

kneel without resistance.

Let this body

move only in your direction.

On Thaipoosam,

I offer not flowers,

not incense,

not vows

I offer myself.

And in that offering,

I feel you

closer than breath,

closer than thought,

closer than the boundary

where I end

and the divine begins.