Sky dancing

Hot stones burn my feet,
The sun kisses my skin with ferocity.

My daughter screams
Her skin is marked red where her fingernails scratch long grooves of hating the heat
Her hair is a fuss of hating the heat
Everything disordered by the kiss of the sun.

My daughter she dances
Through the air thickened with summer
But her dance is violence and anger
She dances

Her music is her voice
She screams her discomfort
Her terrible dance
to subjugate the world.

But the world does not listen
It simply carries on
So my daughter, dances.



Sky dancer is another name for Dakini.  Dakini's are powerful beings in Tibetan belief, fierce and powerful they are often shown dancing on the dead to remind us of the importance of non attachment to the self.  This is much harder for a child, when the self, the emotions, the reactions are just all wrong.  Holding my daughter this morning, before she'd had a chance to wake up properly and be affected by the current heatwave, I realised how desperately she is trying to communicate, and how constant and consistent she is.  Sadly for us, her communication is challenging, based largely on screaming and pinching.  The Dakini dance in the sky to remind us that whilst appearance can be unpleasant, the reality of acceptance and letting go is love.  From my daughter I must learn to love.