The Fire of Devotional Service*
by Hladini dd
Vrindavana, Vrindavana all covered with snow.
Where did all your surabhi cows go?
The green, scenic pastures are covered with ice
To live in Vrindavana is not a cheap price.
The icy cold winds come demanding the rent
For all those sweet summer days you spent.
The sunshine, the flowers, the cows running free
Are now transformed to austerity!
The supplies are depleted, the wood pile is low
Devotees are shivering, no warm place to go.
Four blankets on top of five layers of clothes
Still, you don’t know if you’ll wake up all froze.
The stoves are so smokey you can’t see the door
And your bowl is froze to the prasadam room floor.
The nights bringing in minus sixty chill factor
And Bhavisyat das won’t come up with the tractor
You’re wondering if the cold ever will stop
It’s ten thrity at night and there’s more wood to chop
You start asking what am I doing here?
I’m sick and I’m suffering and the end isn’t near.
But the answer unfolds in the room with the heater
As the loving exchange gets sweeter and sweeter.
Their warmth and Their pleasure is what we’re here for
And if this be the price, then we’re ready for more.
(* This is the title it was published with in the adi-Brijabasi Spirit circa 1979. She never titled it)
