A Fallen Woman Prays To The Infinite

As the Monastery of Tenderness

Opens its golden doors,

I step into the infinity of the pure.

Each incense-scented breath I draw,

With each breath, I pray.

I write poems on prayer flags;

Birds chant hymns in ancient tongues

While my prayers on trees are hung…

The scarlet letter I have torn

And live as one born

In the trial by fire.

Be it Draupadi or Sita

Or Radha or Lalita--

You don't escape without

Scars and burns.

From fire, I emerged,

To the earth, I return…

(Burn me into a diamond

Burn me like a star;

My poems are prayers 

Blazing from every scar…)

In the Monastery of Tenderness 

Where gods consent to bless

I burn with passion

I burn with grief

While prayers into my Being seep 

I am a nun seeking relief…

To the Infinite I pray

To God the Stranger I say

To all the Goddesses if I may…

"Stay, Infinity, Stay!"