Yard Sale of Thoughts

I.

The water flows freely from Lake Batur
to the rice fields,
up from the fountains
of the Balinese cities.

Flows freely, as does the love
of the goddess, Dewi Danu.

Her heart is a tributary.
She sprinkles kindness,
reflects generosity,
and heals others with
endless rippling.

II.

Wrinkles reflect in the water’s rim,
and catch the eye of Danu.
She offers the stranger clean water
and sustenance without question.

But he is not true.
He is the Lord Vishnu.
Standing on a lotus, his four, blue arms
extend, and when she emerges
from his embrace,

she is a goddess, a priestess,
guardian of the water’s flow,
mother of fertility, Dewi Danu.

III.

Caretaker of clean
and abundant water,
prayers and offerings flow to her throne
ensuring a prosperous harvest.
Temples are erected in her effigy.

When drought makes the Balinese doubt,
she confides to a priest in a dream
that she is being held captive by a demon.

Water slows to drop,
the vessel is contained,
she awaits Lord Vishnu’s rescue.

IV

When a wayward king travels to Mount Batur
to make offering
in hopes of his own offspring,
he finds Dewi Danu
her vessel empty,
and he fills it casually.

A married man, remarried
and with his love, a son,
Mayadenawa,
hair flowing.

But as the King
tarries too long in meditations,
his former wife follows him to the mount,
where two wives meet.
Dewi Dani’s wrath unleashed.

V

Boiling waters burn the King,
and his wife, both flesh to ash and
bone to cinder, returning.

And in their place
black and white dolls—
A dark king and his barren consort,
a reminder of the duality of gods
and human beings.

So lift up your hands and hearts
in offering to Dewi Dani,
for we are in need of her conservation,
irrigation, and sustainability.

Nature is a powerful force
and a grave responsibility.

©2025|K.F.Hartless

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GloPoWriMo#12: Today’s prompt was a tall order. Try writing a poem that makes reference to one or more myths, legends, or other well-known stories, that features wordplay (including rhyme), mixes formal and informal language, and contains multiple sections that play with a theme. Try also to incorporate at least one abstract concept – for example, desire or sorrow or pride or whimsy.