No Deva Here Poem by Margaret Alice Second

The letter of a desperate complainant open
on my left since I really must translate every
word for the President, yet, first have to wash
my dirty cups, get water & tidy up to prevent
the encroaching mess from breaking over me,
search for my glasses & save my documents
from getting wet; put away a new dictionary
when my notebook-Tower-of-Pisa falls -

Pick them up - I'm running out of excuses to
procrastinate & my eyes turn to the incorrect-
water-meter letter - I invite the spirit devas of
complaint & provision schemes & the deva of
our Department to give me the concept how to
proceed to defend client & defendant, focusing
on my feelings as instructed by the spirit-devas;
feeling a need to eat oat meal - now it seems

The devas left after glaring at me for being so
frivolous to eat as they made their appearance,
realising this my mind protests against the unfair
treatment as I ate to calm my nerves and ensure
harmony for the devas' influence to inspire relay-
ing texts in correct English and I sigh; there is no
deva here, I have to do the job all alone without
the bright inspiration of deva minds bestowed

On their shiny-halo-aura-reading disciples who
commune with nature spirits and who would not
eat upon calling on the devas to assist them in
completing tasks that seem to be too much for
ordinary human consciousness…