AMBIKA TALWAR

 

 

Burn To Awaken ... Light Up The Fire

 

for Rumi’s “Light up the Fire”

 

Fire never dies – O Beloved.

Its embers dance as yours or my tears

pour stories onto our palms.

 

Fire grounds to dust our fables

grey white silver ash enriches mystery

of every word,

which invites a gaze to a peculiar resonance

as pollen in wind burns with a hum

a crackle, a whisper.

 

While some make honey,

some rake a burial ground.

 

Be friendly with fire, Beloved – quieten mind

away so hearth, stove, waterpot cool, be empty;

Shall I renew my all in a spiral dance?

 

Make not dessert with lava or residue of

our quarrel – make it with wonder, hints

of patchouli, neroli, sandalwood.

 

Who sings Freedom inside will liberate

lovers swooning in notes of royal-rich flame.

Fire is not wound – fire is desire. As it must be.

Gaze in heart’s labyrinth – Burn! Burn to awaken.

 

Light up the fire from the hearth that never wavers –

See flame dancing in my eyes – same flame in yours.

Imagine some still ask, what is love?

Do you know?

***

 

Sum Of All Worlds Disappear

 

for Rumi's "I can't explain the goings, or the comings.

You enter suddenly, and I am nowhere again. Inside the majesty."

 

I see you Beloved

mirror beyond all mirrors

unhindered by shadows

 

Of rain whose snowflakes

land delicately on my lips

 

I taste rose petals you sent me

softer than satin like light

weighty tangible –

caresses my heart

with fragrance of your heart.

 

When I open my eyes

your song floats

far into my heart – inside

a mirror

in which

everyone

recognizes desire

the golden chalice

 

Smile on lips become

cleavage of worlds

reverenced tenderly

as tears roll onto your palm

 

Only wary onlookers know

what is happening

what thou hast done to me

my closed eyes recognize

all four arms are One

four eyes, eight and none

 

Sun of worlds awakens to itself

continual surrendering

endless like flight of birds

destiny unknown

***

 

AMBIKA TALWAR

 

AMBIKA TALWAR, professor emerita, is an India-born author, wellness consultant, poet-artist, & educator living her sacred destiny. Her mystical ecstatic poems are a call to action, a “bridge to other worlds.” Her recent wins include first prize for poetry from the Rabindranath Tagore Awards International (Spring 2024 & 2025). She earned the We Illumination Award for Poetry, Participation, Inspiration and Phenomenal-Woman by WE Literary Dynamic. * Of note is inclusion in WE collection, Earth & Illumination in Poetry (2024), CQ:California-Quarterly; Yugen Quest Review (Spring 2024), Crystal Fire (2022), which includes her poems and paintings.  *  She's published in various online and print anthologies in India and the USA. Twice Pushcart nominee, she earned the Poiesis Bharat Award for Excellence in Literature (2021-2025; Nissim International Poetry Prize (2021); and the Great India Poetry Contest (2018).  *  Her short film, Androgyne (2000) earned her the Best Original Story Award in Belgium. As wellness consultant, Ambika practices Intuition-Energetics™, for recovery from various stresses of our lives. “Both poetry and holistic practices work beautifully together – for language is intricately coded in us," she says.  *  She is currently republishing her book titled, "My Greece: Mirrors & Metamorphoses" which is a poetic-spiritual journey of self-reflection stirred by visits to various magnificent sites in this ancient land.  *  Also soon to be published is a collection of poems that explore the sacred, the divine, and ecstasy – she is withholding the title at this time.  *  Board member of CSPS–California State Poetry Society,  Ambika makes her home in Los Angeles and New Delhi, Bharat-India.