on our farm my father had a harrow
it was used during the planting season
from the Old Dutch and Norse languages
harrowing the ground is a kind of wounding
Indian goddess Sita was born in a furrow
maybe it too had been harrowed
certainly she had a harrowing experience
abducted held hostage by Ravana
when Rama finally arrives to bring her home
he accuses her of unfaithfulness
and she enters a fire only to emerge whole
her purity proven so when I see an image
of the harrowing of hell a giant animal maw
sharp teeth like the tines on a harrow
naked people walking out of the maw
of hell I think of Sita found in a furrow
returning to the earth when she dies
and the earth harrowed by my father
To see the image that inspired this poem go to my Facebook page. I wasn't able to link to the image. It's two posts below this poem.
Thank you, I really enjoyed this. Particularly enjoyed all the "w" sound line-ending. Real tension in a line that ends with that sound.
ReplyDeleteYes, amazing image. And very thought-provoking poem. Even Goddesses had to suffer blaming the victim.
ReplyDelete