Ekadanta – a poem by Ashley Naftule

Ekadanta

All I can see in my prayers
………..is broken tusks
and gods riding on the back of mice.
Their outstretched hands hold out
vermillion candies and sharp tridents

dripping poppy red.

The sky above me is gray and dense,
the skin of an elephant
stretched across the heavens.

My Lord writes his name
………….on my tongue
…………with the tip of a peacock’s feather.
He carves his face
……….. on my heart
……….. with a broken tusk.
And I—
I write my name
……………………..on smoke and fire
……………………..so he can breathe it in.
Hold me in your mouth,
…………..so everything you say
…………..is colored by me.
Let us speak only in harmonies, Ekadanta—
…………………………………………………………………………..everything under your skin
…………………………………………………………………………..will dance for us.

Ashley Naftule is a writer and performer from Phoenix, AZ. He’s been published in Vice, Phoenix New Times, Ghost City Press, The Hard Times, Rinky Dink Press, Under The Radar, Four Chambers Press, and The Occulum. He’s a resident playwright and Associate Artistic Director at Space55 theatre.