The ground is damp with liquid marrow—Skeletal ghouls with sunken eyesjostle and elbow—looking furtively around themextinguishing the fireswith gleeful heartsthey eat half-burned corpses—There, in that menacing forestholding fire in his handdances our beautiful lord. -Karaikkal Ammeiyar, a sixth century female poet-devotee of Lord Shiva, one of the 63 Nayanar Saints (Vidya Dehejia, Antal and Her Path of Love: Poems of a Woman Saint from South India, 1990)

The ground is damp with liquid marrow—
Skeletal ghouls with sunken eyes
jostle and elbow—
looking furtively around them
extinguishing the fires
with gleeful hearts
they eat half-burned corpses—
There, in that menacing forest
holding fire in his hand
dances our beautiful lord.


-Karaikkal Ammeiyar, a sixth century female poet-devotee of Lord Shiva, one of the 63 Nayanar Saints


(Vidya Dehejia, Antal and Her Path of Love: Poems of a Woman Saint from South India, 1990)

Tags: Shiva Nataraja poetry bhakti