Words Fail

from Mother Poems by Shambhavi Sarasvati

Burnt offerings send fragrant smoke to heaven

Failing to hear
the profound communication,
words fail.
The difference cannot be made up
with explanations.

Only poems come close
to minding the gap,
inviting the mind to yield its
childish demands for reasons.

The messages of poems escape
from cracks in time and mind,
like smoke unfurling from
the unremembered worship of the
deep and burning.

Pause the
inevitable words.
Breathe in.
Fill yourself
with Ma’s timeless,
silvery perfume.