Some folk once sat around a table,
To share a meal and sing and fable.
‘Twas sturdy but would shake and rumble
When they did pause and stealthily mumble,
For it was afraid of losing its guardians,
Just as the fire feared of losing its radiance.
The parting flame wildly wobbled a bit,
When one man exclaimed in a wilder fit,
We have lost our hearth, tell tales sans heart,
Some gifted a gaze, others granted a glance.
He then closed his eyes and fell to his chair,
Tables shook and men still mumbled –
But he could not yield nor could he care,
Far away he saw another fire, slightly warmer.
It had its own audience, just slightly quieter.
He listened to their tales, unchained but entwined,
In the lulling melody of crackling timbre behind.
Tales of men and women, of gods and of beasts,
Their wants and wisdom, conquests and defeats.
Half a man, and half a bull, an old man exclaimed,
In one hand his rosary, with the other he aimed,
First at the heavens and then at the dungeons below,
He then posited of a battle, and his guise did glow –
Many fires have heard its tale, this too shall do so.
Aeons and aeons ago, the demon did worship the gods,
Pleased they gave him a singular boon, life against all odds.
Neither man, nor god would bring you your fate, they said-
The bull in the demon roared with all his might,
The man in him pondered the spectre of his plight.
Shrouded in immortality he challenged the celestial throne,
Conquering kings, surpassing gods, their powers his own.
And when the kings, defeated, were bereft of all hope,
Went back to the gods, to pick wisdom from their trove.
A child enquired to the patron of the tale,
What gods, they who granted the devil –
Deposed, they fled and left the kings to fail.
The tale smiled, carried on as the fire went frail.
The gods conferred as the kings envied their foes
A woman it must be, the answer to your woes
The devil burst into laughter hearing the news,
His counsel did worry, the sky took redder hues.
The earth shook like tumbling chairs, came a distant cry –
“I say get up”, none could wrinkle his tale as much they try.
The gods declared, we shall part with our divine bests
Our warrior shall overcome the devils mightiest tests.
The whole is often greater than the sum of the parts,
Gather, O gods and wise kings, lay forth your offerings –
The pinnacle of our enterprise, our souls and our hearts.
The trinity sacrificed their most beloved gifts
They all created, with their resonant boons.
Her face bright as a thousand stars –
And the benevolence of a hundred moons.
The creator gifted the vessel of growth and life,
Water of the sacred river to end all pain and rife.
The preserver of the realms did part with his might,
Gave her the chakra to protect all from their plight.
The destroyer gave his trident for the enemy’s doom,
A quiver of endless arrows to bring them fearful gloom.
Axe of the god of enterprise, death gifted his own mace,
The mountains gave her a lion to roar on the fiend’s face.
A battle not for good or evil, but for destiny and faith,
Two mighty warriors fought for they were bound by fate.
First the devil’s soldiers came one after the other –
many a malice, weapons of disguise, but could not dither,
the warrior who raged fire and havoc, uncountable arrows
Enough to dam the flow of time, she swept the enemy rows.
On the ninth night did the chariot of fate decide,
To bring the opposites together, set chaos aside.
The devil first appeared as a man and offered a ruse,
Clouded in the smoke of his pride, said, be my queen.
The divine one said I am the creator’s child –
I am one half of the harbinger of all change and ruin,
Go back to the dungeons, I offer thee life –
I offer you wisdom and that shall be our truce.
I know you shall not accept what is right,
This moment was, is and always shall be,
Like flames we sway, in the winds of time,
You, me, the kings and gods to it all alike.
The beast finally free, to a raging bull, reduced,
He charged the goddess, the final battle ensued.
Both fought valiantly, hearts pure in their cause,
No respite, no mercy, just pursuit without pause.
The devil jumped with the last shred of his spirit to unseat the divine,
With a mace he hit the lion whose path with him had to entwine.
The beast lay, lost and tamed under the claws of his ruin decreed,
With her trident she dealt the final blow, as the gods had agreed.
Here ends the tale the elder sighed –
The order of the gods and kings the warrior did all restore.
Our hearths, our tales and our pyres were all ours, once more.
To share a meal and sing and fable.
‘Twas sturdy but would shake and rumble
When they did pause and stealthily mumble,
For it was afraid of losing its guardians,
Just as the fire feared of losing its radiance.
The parting flame wildly wobbled a bit,
When one man exclaimed in a wilder fit,
We have lost our hearth, tell tales sans heart,
Some gifted a gaze, others granted a glance.
He then closed his eyes and fell to his chair,
Tables shook and men still mumbled –
But he could not yield nor could he care,
Far away he saw another fire, slightly warmer.
It had its own audience, just slightly quieter.
He listened to their tales, unchained but entwined,
In the lulling melody of crackling timbre behind.
Tales of men and women, of gods and of beasts,
Their wants and wisdom, conquests and defeats.
Half a man, and half a bull, an old man exclaimed,
In one hand his rosary, with the other he aimed,
First at the heavens and then at the dungeons below,
He then posited of a battle, and his guise did glow –
Many fires have heard its tale, this too shall do so.
Aeons and aeons ago, the demon did worship the gods,
Pleased they gave him a singular boon, life against all odds.
Neither man, nor god would bring you your fate, they said-
The bull in the demon roared with all his might,
The man in him pondered the spectre of his plight.
Shrouded in immortality he challenged the celestial throne,
Conquering kings, surpassing gods, their powers his own.
And when the kings, defeated, were bereft of all hope,
Went back to the gods, to pick wisdom from their trove.
A child enquired to the patron of the tale,
What gods, they who granted the devil –
Deposed, they fled and left the kings to fail.
The tale smiled, carried on as the fire went frail.
The gods conferred as the kings envied their foes
A woman it must be, the answer to your woes
The devil burst into laughter hearing the news,
His counsel did worry, the sky took redder hues.
The earth shook like tumbling chairs, came a distant cry –
“I say get up”, none could wrinkle his tale as much they try.
The gods declared, we shall part with our divine bests
Our warrior shall overcome the devils mightiest tests.
The whole is often greater than the sum of the parts,
Gather, O gods and wise kings, lay forth your offerings –
The pinnacle of our enterprise, our souls and our hearts.
The trinity sacrificed their most beloved gifts
They all created, with their resonant boons.
Her face bright as a thousand stars –
And the benevolence of a hundred moons.
The creator gifted the vessel of growth and life,
Water of the sacred river to end all pain and rife.
The preserver of the realms did part with his might,
Gave her the chakra to protect all from their plight.
The destroyer gave his trident for the enemy’s doom,
A quiver of endless arrows to bring them fearful gloom.
Axe of the god of enterprise, death gifted his own mace,
The mountains gave her a lion to roar on the fiend’s face.
A battle not for good or evil, but for destiny and faith,
Two mighty warriors fought for they were bound by fate.
First the devil’s soldiers came one after the other –
many a malice, weapons of disguise, but could not dither,
the warrior who raged fire and havoc, uncountable arrows
Enough to dam the flow of time, she swept the enemy rows.
On the ninth night did the chariot of fate decide,
To bring the opposites together, set chaos aside.
The devil first appeared as a man and offered a ruse,
Clouded in the smoke of his pride, said, be my queen.
The divine one said I am the creator’s child –
I am one half of the harbinger of all change and ruin,
Go back to the dungeons, I offer thee life –
I offer you wisdom and that shall be our truce.
I know you shall not accept what is right,
This moment was, is and always shall be,
Like flames we sway, in the winds of time,
You, me, the kings and gods to it all alike.
The beast finally free, to a raging bull, reduced,
He charged the goddess, the final battle ensued.
Both fought valiantly, hearts pure in their cause,
No respite, no mercy, just pursuit without pause.
The devil jumped with the last shred of his spirit to unseat the divine,
With a mace he hit the lion whose path with him had to entwine.
The beast lay, lost and tamed under the claws of his ruin decreed,
With her trident she dealt the final blow, as the gods had agreed.
Here ends the tale the elder sighed –
The order of the gods and kings the warrior did all restore.
Our hearths, our tales and our pyres were all ours, once more.
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