My wedding night – A poem
I was a virgin
I was a bride
I wore a shrug of petals
Like Maya, the illusion
I knew I can seduce him
Kamasutra (A tale of love) – I watched for him
There he came, my groom
That perma-tanned skin Adonis
He looked down
Symmetrical eyes
My knees trembled
He reached closer to me
I was concocted by fear and elation
He touched my breasts
I whispered “See those petals”
He smiled
Resting his head on my naked breast
He whispered “Come make love”
Kamasutra (A tale of love) – I watched for him
His hands felt each crater of my skin
The lines of my sensuality for I am Maya, the illusion
No spoken words
Thousand words while we made love
Jumping Jack flash
I heard the melodies when he said “Come make love”
The soft kisses up and down my neckline
Kamasutra (A tale of love) – I watched for him
The love theme song played
I moaned and we kissed
Rolling on me I felt him
I am Maya, the illusion
Shaky shallow breaths
I taught him the art of love making
I am Maya, the illusion
Kamasutra (A tale of love) – I watched for him
The fiery, passionate kiss
My wedding night
Two souls blended in one
The mystic rhythms of the love theme song
I watched Kamasutra, a tale of love as I made love with
him
hunter-kamasutra -- lauraverde
The “Kamasutra” (Treatise on Pleasure) was written as early as ca 600 BCE or as late as the early 3rd century by Mallanaga Vatsyayana. "Kama," one of the 4 goals of Hindu life, means desire, and a "sutra" (a thread or line that holds things together) was a collection of aphorisms or rules in the form of a manual. Pleasure was regarded as one of the main reasons for human existence, and sexual intercourse was a divine union. Kama, the god of love, created the entire universe. The majority of the book is about the philosophy and theory of love, what triggers desire, what sustains it, and how and when it is good or bad; it was a guide to virtuous and gracious living, including family life and other aspects of pleasure, licit and illicit love affairs, and seduction strategies. Only 20% is about sexual positions that are recommended or should be avoided: 8 ways of making love are each characterized by 8 different positions, for 64 sexual positions called the 64 arts. The book has 1,250 verses, distributed over 36 chapters which are organized into 7 parts. Vatsyayana acknowledgd that the senses can be dangerous: “Just as a horse in full gallop, blinded by the energy of his own speed, pays no attention to any post or hole or ditch on the path, so two lovers, blinded by passion, in the friction of sexual battle, are caught up in their fierce energy and pay no attention to danger.” The most widely known (partial) English translation was privately printed in 1883 by the Hindoo Kama Shastra Society, a fictional organization created to circumvent draconian British obscenity laws; ostensibly a scholarly work, it became one of the most pirated books in the English language. With the help of his friend the Indian civil servant Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot and a student, Shivaram Parshuram Bhide, the book was published by Sir Richard Francis Burton, a notorious explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat famed for his travels in Asia, Africa, and the Americas and his detailed knowledge of languages and cultures. He was fluent in 29 languages and the author of over 40 books as well as articles, monographs, and letters. His output included an unexpurgated translation of “One Thousand and One Nights.” Among his nonliterary exploits were his disguised journey to Mecca and the distinction of being the first European to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. “Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love was a 1996 film scripted, directed, and produced by Mira Nair; set in the 16th century, it was the story of a servant, Maya, who seduced the husband of her boyhood friend. In Hindu tradition Maya (illusion or magic) originally implied extraordinary power and wisdom but came to connote a spiritual concept connoting that which exists but is constantly changing and thus is spiritually unreal" or the power or principle that conceals the true character of spiritual reality. Maya is also a manifestation of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity and love.
ReplyDeleteLoved the illustration
DeleteAphrodite caused Myrrha to lust after her father, king Cinyras of Cyprus in some versions, or king Theias of Assyria in others. Myrrha had sex with her father in complete darkness for 9 nights, but he discovered her identity and chased her with a sword. Aphrodite transformed her into a myrrh tree and, in that form, she gave birth to Adonis when the king shot an arrow into the tree or when a boar used its tusks to tear the tree's bark off. Aphrodite found the infant and gave him to Persephone to raise him. He grew into an astonishingly handsome young man, causing Aphrodite and Persephone to feud over him, until Zeus decreeing that Adonis would spend 1/3 of the year with each of the goddesses and the final 1/3 with whomever he chose, which Adonis chose to spend with Aphrodite. He was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip and died in Aphrodite's arms; his blood and her tears mingled and became the anemone flower. Every summer women would plant fast-growing plants in pots and put them on their roofs. The plants would sprout, but soon wither and die in the hot sun, and the women would mourn the death of Adonis by rending their garments and beating their breasts in a public display of grief.
ReplyDelete“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” was written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and an uncredited Bill Wyman in 1968 and became the Rolling stones’ most-performed song (over 1,100 times in concert), playing it on every tour since its release.
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at the morning driving rain
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas, gas, gas
I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag,
I was schooled with a strap right across my back
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas, gas, gas
I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled, yeah yeah
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I was crowned with a spike right through my head
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas, gas, gas
I adore it Ms Battacharya! Funny, I was just reading the Upanishads this morning!
ReplyDeleteSigned with much affection and admiration,
An old Vedantist,
Arlene
Thank you so very much
DeleteI forgot to add my total admiration for Duane Voorhees for the accompanying illustration! I swoon!
ReplyDelete