she noticed my eyes,
in a room full of moving bodies
a few years later,
I sat still on the floor
every muscle a silent prayer; she watched from miles away and saw something worthy in my stillness;
her eyes
didn’t see an inability to move,
a fractured relationship with dance like mine did,
instead she saw the ribbon in my hair swaying to the breeze of the fan
and called it movement.
a few months later,
I stand with her,
under a moonlit sky
in a quiet corner of the beach, still in the waves,
once again,
she finds movement,
something worthy in my being
even when I’m doing nothing,
even when I’m just letting myself be
soon enough,
I sit with her in her house
amidst wilderness
sipping her soon to be world famous amber chai, a melody of herbs & honey
I struggle to see myself as an artist,
& it doesn’t matter because
she, effortlessly returns my artistry to me fulfilling a need, I didn’t even know I had
she saw me
she sees me
she will continue to see me
in ways I hope to be seen,
in ways I don’t know how to see myself
she sees me and she sees art and it makes me feel special, worthy,
above all else
it makes me want to learn to see like she does;
a permanent lens
a filmmaker with no equipment except the organic process of sight
I want to see art everywhere I go, in everyone I meet
and she is my portal,
my mentor in the process
of becoming art,
one day at a time
for all the days I have to live
happy birthday Raga
your art saves me, your art restores worth in me and your art, reminds me why art is the secret of and to everything. using the word art with abundance, because it’s where I’ve found abundance with you, in me.
infinitely dancing in space,
sona
Ragini Bhajanka 