.png)
Full Moon
29 Jul 2026
Devjani
Bodepudi
Reaching
After Abanindranath Tagore’s
Ganesh-Janini (1908)
I never knew I was to hold a god
a tiny one that blushed
the colour of saffron strands.
I never knew I was to be mountain
in form of mother
standing flat against an indigo cirrus wash.
I am bearing soles balanced in one hand
as my little god reaches to climb higher
I will have to let you go
as you find footholds in the crook of an elbow
or a knot in the trunk
of the tree you wish to conquer.
Letting go is not the same as release.
I never intended your slipping away.
My pause is held frozen in the breath of rock
more timorous than the echo of a wren’s pulse
more perpetual than pine.
If I could concertina you into a crescent moon
pressing red and blue flowers into your palms
weave you loosely into my hair, I would.
Yet I am mountain watching only
as you reach to play atop clouds
transformed, wise
my tiny god.
Behind the poem...
My poem Reaching is inspired by the painting Ganesh-Janini (birth-giver of Ganesh) by one of my favourite artists, Abanindranath Tagore. It depicts a woman holding aloft the Hindu god Ganesh as he reaches for a tree branch with his trunk. In the background, a mountain rises against a blue night sky that holds a faint crescent moon. There are trees in the middle distance that I imagine are Indian pine, and a red flower, bedded in rock. A wash of green grass in the foreground has a single blue flower growing from it. The whole scene is one of tenderness and trust; shows the need to let a child reach out, despite the dangers. It reminds me of the times we have to let go.