Pimpamma Yellamma

“ i will quench the thirst of the thirsty,

i will feed the hungry

and i will shelter the homeless”…

the bewildered girl

in a skirt of leafy neem twigs

takes the oath to Yellamma

admidst the smokes of burning camphor and coconuts,

the entranced devdasis

and the exorcising jogitis—

all swaying

and screaming

and blabbering.

and she’ll entertain the lingam dutifully –

first the pujari ,the temple priest,

and the strongman of the village,

and the stranger,

and on the next Magh Poornima

she’ll return to the red-lit slums

in the all-embracing lap of pan-chewing gharwali.

the fiery deity perennially

plucks the pubic hair of little Yellammas

to ease into the penetrating thrust

of lust and hunger.

jai ho Pimpamma Yellamma.