Dharmakarna

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Fire God hath no fury
Namo Namah
Her surma-laden tributaries.
The pious pundit rants
Successive, dangerous chants
She throws her head backwards
In hysteria
Matam ki khushi, matam ka sama.

A thousand bowed heads
A thousand devoted faces
The blood-curdling jarring
Of maha-ghantis
Holy intoxication of the havan-kund
But Dharma resides in only one.

No, Dharma sees no one.

Yagya karo, yagya karo
Karna- the greatest danveer
Comes down from the heavens today, they said
He will prowl the streets in disguise
He will have gold coins in his pockets.
Heaven-manufactured, heaven-sealed!
Who’s the holiest of them all?
Bound to get lucky, that bugger!

And then the men combated
For the best spot by the fire
And the women wore bandhinis and laheriyas

The children cried.

Dharma peeped from the window
Karna tousled her hair.
“Women have dressed for you.”
He smiled.

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