Wheel of Fortune

April 4

Ave Maria

I'm not a bitter Catholic,
just a lapsed one.
Mother Mary with her pearly skin, beatific gaze
and linen-swaddled son
is too pallid and anemic a goddess for me.
The giddy, sticky, fiery deities
of India call to me.
Lakshmi, garbed in red, bathed in
golden sparkling filaments,
carries a never ending pot of overflowing money.
Saraswati rides a swan, wears a white sari,
and breathes art and music into life.
Ten-armed Durga, a weapon in each hand
is what I need to survive an eight hour shift.
I will probably always cry when I hear the
Ave Maria,
but just under my breath
I'll be chanting
"Om Shri Ganeshay Namah",
Namaste, Namaste, Namaste.