Arising from the Dust
She woke up from the cinders
With laden wings along
Flecked with ashes of the yore
Lissome, yet so strong!
Her wings weren’t mere feathers
But, limbs of ores alloyed
Ah! Christened brash and brazen,
The Phoenix rose from fire!
Ancient Greek mythology says, Phoenixes were monsters resurrected from the remains of their predecessors. Monsters? I was baffled for whether I should compare a phoenix with a woman or not! Well, why would a delicate, demure woman be christened as a monster bird? Just because of her resilience, grit and Nil Desperandum! For her never-say-die spirits! And then, I was reminded of Mahakali, the Adishakti when agitated and evoked. She shunned her soft and fragile demeanor, shuddered the entire universe in trepidation, when deprived of her rights.
Call her a Phoenix resurrecting from her ashes or Mahakali annihilating all the evil around, a woman has the resilience no matter how meek she seems. She can get back on her feet after every fall, fault and failure of hers as well as others. She assembles her scattered esse’, gathers her broken pieces and strikes back time and again. And, that’s arising of a Phoenix from her ashes.
It’s not only my story about which I am going to speak further but also tales from other 32 prolific writers. The anthology, “Arising from the Dust” which I am part of, portrays 32 stories of invincible spirits, grit, courage and determination. And, not to mention compiled and presented with such grandeur! That’s #AFTD, the anthology I am proud to be associated with as a Nouveau storyteller.
My contribution to this intriguing book is quite close to my heart as it’s a fragment of my life, the story of ‘A Sculptress‘, a tale inspired by my life’s incidents. It’s about my sister whom I lost in the beginning of this year and the hell of the pandemic started afterwards.
So, it happened about a year ago while we weren’t aware of her real malady, leukemia. She was continuously ill for the last 2 years and was explaining her ailments to me over a call. Just to encourage her to cope with those so called trivial health issues, I explained to her the Greek Myth of a Phoenix and requested to paint one for one of my write ups.
10 days later, she sent me these pictures on WhatsApp with a message “This is my adaptation of a Phoenix, YOU!”
“ME? Do I look blind to you? Why does your Phoenix look halos visioned?”
She smiled and said, “Ain’t that just the way a Phoenix should be? Blinded in trust and love? Thus, they have to decompose their bodies and resurrect their souls. Do you think this world can hold the fire we artists possess? We need to die to be born yet again with ‘Nouveau Le Corps’…new bodies. I am fed up with this ailing aimless body. I want a new one, like a Phoenix.”
The idol of the Phoenix she sculpted is her adaptation of a woman rising from the remains of the past.
She has given subtle hints of gold dust on its crown to denote fire. Its wings are made of used surgical gloves she picked from the garbage disposal from our brother’s hospital. And, its face is of mine, blinded what she claimed.
As Greek said, a Phoenix, the monster bird was only fed on aromatic tears of Amomum (cardamom), not on seeds or weeds or worms like other birds, and shrouded with myrrh as its burial sheets. My Phoenix was the same. Fragrant, aesthetic and eulogized! Then, one fateful day, she chose to be myrrh-ed like a Phoenix…to be back again in a new form…!
Dear readers! My story would never be completed. However, there are such beautiful stories by 32 prolific writers in this amazing anthology by Let’s Make Stories Dino, a page handled meticulously by my dear friend, Meera Barath you would love to read and appreciate. Have a look at the Amazon link and explore many Nouveau Merveille, there. These 32 new fables of age old spring-like pliability women possessed…there are these stories of Nil Desperandum, the rising of the women from their abyssal. Their rise from nadir to zenith…. finding inklings from across the centuries… beyond the civilizations…. from Mahakali to Mary Magdalene…from Garuda to Phoenix.
Grab your copy of “Arising from the Dust” at AMAZON by clicking Here ! It’s available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle.
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