_{Gods in Kerala}

Here in south India

Next to colorful fabrics 
abundance of fresh baskets of petals.
And girls with beautiful black eyes
with People worshiping awaiting Gods

With smell of intoxicating sandal wood

and burning incense,
all hands are up towards all this Gods
asking for something

Stores are filled with statues of Gods
God of poetry
God of wealth
God of health
God of love
God of rain and light
God of everything and anything

And I am thinking with all these rose petals
in baskets and colorful bags,
and the aroma of intense perfumes
I must go visit the Gods

This is Kerala,” Gods own house”,
and any statue you see
Is a small God , symbol of giving

Every day with an stem of flower I visit a God
One day visiting Krishna, God of love
Another day visiting Lakshmiri, God of light

One day I decided to visit poor neighborhoods!
Old and ruined houses with pile of garbage next to broken doors
I looked at worn out and sad faces of skinny dogs,
thirsty, hungry and weary , along the fat and strong cows,
marching freely and happily on the streets

I see an old lady with frail body

carrying a big load of wood on her back
barefooted men and women everywhere

Here in south India I can see with my eyes
that all the Gods sitting and doing nothing.
The God of money have been sleep for centuries
and done nothing in "Gods own house”

For fun every day I buy

an statue of a God as a gift

For my wishful friends

------

Mahnaz Badihian/India 2005