As
goddess, Aphrodite's divinity is neither safe nor comfortable.
If she initiates into
mysteries
of the body
of
transgender women
into goddesses for an annual
Hindu
festival
that takes
place
in an atmosphere
of reverent,
somber concentration.
Laugh
lines vanish, replaced by a carnal connection,
she also
sends us
to the underworld, through loss or the pain
of intimacy betrayed or broken.
