Eli and The Elephant

I keep a small personal altar behind my writing desk. It displays a few special items that encourage and inspire me to write. A Ganesh incense holder is the centerpiece, and when I work on creative writing projects I light some Ganesh incense and read a mantra dedicated to the Lord of Removing Obstacles.

I was lighting a lot of incense when the kids first moved in -- determined to stick with a writing schedule that included the work that feeds my soul, not just that which feeds my creditors. Because they love fire of all kinds, the kids would come around and ask to blow out the incense or smell the smoke -- especially Eli. He wanted to light incense constantly and in my effort to show that it was meant to be a meaningful gesture I made him repeat the mantra with me each time:

Oh Lord Ganesh of large body, curved trunk, with the brilliance of a million suns, please make all of my work free of obstacles, always.

Today Eli asked to light some incense. I was busy looking for assignments. "Alright," I answered half-heartedly. "Do you want to blow it out?" I waved the burning incense in front of his mouth trying to hurry the ritual along. "Say the thing first," he said. "We have to say the Ganesh."

So we said the Ganesh, and instead of writing an article about how to find the best deals on Christmas decorations I wrote this poem.