"Where the Rivers Meet"
2/10/17
Please pardon me I know you see my simple pot and stick
From the outside looking in, it may appear I'm sick
I am not contagious and most certainly not in dis-ease
I'm praying for this life raft to cross the causal seas
So far gone from idea of time and space
Immersed here in this sublime realm of light asking to see your face
To enter in the Supreme Abode, a mere beggar for your grace
I sit before your murti high up in the hills
My body convulses in ecstasy, hair on end, in chills
Descending the steps we finally reach the place where the rivers meet
From the locks of Bholenath to Bhumi Devi emanating from Your lotus feet
Approaching in reverence and not by design
We pause and gaze, pause and pray one terrace at a time
Observing custom in reverence 'pon the precipice of this most sacred place
Lifetimes of forgetful actions gone without a trace
The locals leave and the window opens, must make use of this crack
Off come my all my coverings, including my shirt and slacks
To purify my ancestors 7 generations, forward, back - in all directions
And to wash away infinite incarnations' wounds and imperfections
I hold the chain and as I step down I wrap it around my wrist
This holy pilgrimage providing a chance that truly cant be missed
Exhilaration, sun-kissed, frigid waters, heart pounding
For that moment divine entrainment, with the thunderous rush of her flow resounding
The moment's here, inhale retention
Releasing apprehension and all tension
Submerging three times in your liquid form beyond all comprehension
Purify me so I may be the I Am That I Am in spiritual conception
And in this soul identity, catch I in this current
And deliver me to the Spiritual World, your eternal follower and servant
~ Photos & poetry from Mother Ganges ~ Devprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 2/10/17
~ Devprayag - where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers meet & take the name Ganga or Ganges River
~ photos © John Smrtic; photos of John by Val Feldman
