Beautiful, strong and regal That’s how this goddess is described She is the queen of all the gods And helps families unite
Although she is a champion Of women and their lives Her heart is full of poison For her husband’s many lies
She is married to grand old Zeus Who loves being with the ladies Hera has tried with all her might To send him off to Hades*
But the god of death cannot best Zeus and his lightning bolt So Hera now tortures her step children With punishements untold
When Hera is having a good day She is sweet, gentle and kind The cow, the peacock and the cucukoo Shine as her symbols divine
But when she is angry with Zeus She is as jealous as a goose Zeus says sorry and stands on his head And then finally there is a truce
Along with Zeus and his lightning bolt Hera lives with her cuckoo and crown She reigns from above on mount Olympus But to earth, she rarely comes down.
There’s a girl in the sunset Her hair is ablaze Her dupatta streams In the arid breeze I can’t see her face I catch my breath She stands there still, so still I see the horizon seethe and rage Scorch her in its red-hot rampage I close my eyes I’m afraid to look Afraid to see the heavens burn Afraid to see the ashes blown Of the girl that is standing there alone
But then
My stinging eyelids fly open, I see She’s still there She looks back at me The blaze of the sun Now a shimmering red Halo around her head Like a crown. She won’t go down When her world careens When her world burns all around Grey smoke rising from the sea Of charred, asphyxiated dreams She stands there serene She gathers the light around her being She smiles, she gleams She is the fire queen.
Mahvash Mohtadullah 