o holy Mother of Creation whose
brown hands wrapped in henna
shape me from the clay
whose reed pen carves
vertebrae from dark earth
blesses this life-river-spine
writes me into being
righteous Woman garbed
in radiance
resplendent light
that sun-bakes
clay into poetry
this cracked canon
is a syncretism of you
o Lady of all
Divine Powers
o Lady who made Language
pray to your pen
o Lady who made History
sing hymns of your voice
o great Queen of Heaven who
dropped a reed into
the river
let it bloom and become
earth
o Divine Woman who
wrote those who
would write adam
from the sands of
your ribs
o Mother of All before whom
all that cracked clay that will become
all that life kneels in silent
prayer
you press a reed
to cracked clay lips
pour life-rivers down these
parched throats
bless brown Bodies with voice
so that we may sing hymns
to your name
o holy Woman on High
though white sands howl
silence upon this cracked
clay canon
louder
than song
bury brown Bodies
under white sand mountains
though white sand’s whip sting
blows in from the west
the east wind whispers
hymns of your name
Ishtar
Inanna
Enheduanna
About the author: Ethan Thayumanavan is a poet of Indian descent from Amherst, Massachusetts. He is a full-time student at Columbia University who began his exploration of poetry through the spoken word. His written work has recently been published in The Eunoia Review and The New Verse News.