Snow child

photo credit Josh Hays

from the Russian Fairytale Snegurochka, The Snow Maiden

the snow came
twirling, dancing
in infinitesimal patterns
of the finest geometry
each its unique design
an imprint from the heavens
of sparkling light
as though faeries dancing
in twilight tremors

there is a muted softness
in the air I breathe
as though echoless and magical
in the distance the laughter
of children playing
perhaps I will make my own
snow-child come to life

eyes sparkling
with sapphire clarity
and the glow of life in her cheeks
only it is with care
and the caress of compassion
that my arms might bend
folding to enclose but
not to grasp
in that fine dance
that is selfless love
sending forth on the
seraphim wings of freedom
wild and longing
into the candor
of a wintry night

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Every tree does shed its fruit

Dedicated to William Blake

In the dark passageway carrying the light
Aglow my cheeks a rose of pale opalescence
The globe in my hands, I whisper in the stillness
As though in but a second I could
Hear the humming of all creation

Small hands clasping the pitcher
Life flowing on the inside
Captivated and captured

Suddenly askance
In opposite directions turn
Face, hands, feet
Something or someone
Makes its way down the alleyway
Catching me by surprise

Surrounded by shadows
Looming and tall
The liquid spills, the flames roar
The whispers swish and swoon
Shutting me in their golden cage

With a shout I encompass myself
Held together by the magnificence
Of opposites without
I land on green grass

It is moist and while the early dawn rises
I contemplate that every tree does shed its fruit
Time passes and leaves wither and shrivel

The fruit I bore, in its arc of creation
Laid shining and dappled
Thrust out of springtime love
Lust, dew, music
And when summertime came
Shining in fullness
It hung resplendent on a leafy branch

Yet time, the mystery in its making
Has walked serendipitously forward
Falling into autumn
Leaving the skin to shed on my plate

Consumed by the law of matter
Metabolism, digestion, process
Serene and lonely
In the harvest hour
I lie with the fruits of my experiences
Chewed into decay and waiting to be
Transformed into winter thought
Unique and Eternal

I open my eyes

I open my eyes
To the new day, new year
Sunlight pours through the window
We honor each other’s presence
And delight in each other’s arms
Scent, skin, touch
I am in love
And it wanders through my being
Spreading like ripples in my
Atomic flesh and blood
Bubbles of wholeness singing
In cosmic harmony

Hearing the words of angels
And facing all in the moment
Calm, compassionate
Vehemently happy
Life full to the brim
Of cause, desire, ideal
Truth, possibility
And yet also struggle, loneliness, sadness
Possession, envy, jealousy, greed

The shadows allowing transformation to happen
Toes of a toad
I sing to the world
In a newfound language
Hoping for the myriad colors to mesh
With the infinitesimal beauty of coral
Jellyfish, peach, blossom

The thin red line that harkens
The coming sun rising
Over the desert plateau
The rainbow arching and spanning
From my heart to my mind

I heard the mermaid echoing in the distilled blue
Saw the starfish in the underworld
And words sprang like a crocus in the snow
Gently beckoning new life
This new year
New beginnings in which the voice resounds
Clear in the stillness
As the hope for fresh tears
Dew drops of this land
Mother of my mind
One we sing in the holiness
Of all

I am the wind

I am the wind
Whistling helter skelter
Through the leaves
The sand on the shore
Washed by water
Again and again
The footprints of all the feet
Big and small
Swaggering and pattering
That compressed me
And left a little portion of themselves
Imprinted in my life
On my mind
Like a watermark of their
Thoughts sailing on a string
Ballooning into the blue sky
Pulled by a man on his bicycle

I am the woman you held in your arms
And whispered to
I sang to the waves
Wished upon a star
And placed my prayers
On the wistful smile
Of the harvest moon

The days are waning
And so are the years
Looking forward and back
I take a big breath
And look into the hourglass of now

In the stillness I hear your heartbeat
Its relentless rhythm
Taking me back
To the beginning of time

I am the child you once knew
The sunbeam on the afternoon wall
And the sound of the traffic
Droning everything else out

The landscape of pure ideas conjured
By the openness of space
As time widens

The country where all countries meet
Where boundaries are defeated
And love is proclaimed
Where the scent of the morning sunrise infuses the day

I am the loll of the sail in the evening dusk
That windless moment
When all seems captured
In a perfect frame

I am the picture within
Some days the picture of Dorian Gray
The exterior sheaf leaves way
To the inside feeling old
The body unworthy of the cycles of nature
And yet to breathe in the stillness
To sigh and wonder
Each year brings new gifts
The heart opens a little wider
Defying definitions I swing
Into myself
Into this life
Given and giver
Created and creator
Taught and teacher
Drawing out of the mold
The expressions, the laughter
The oohs and ahs of learning
My jewels before me
Glistening in the sunlight
I count them, polish their Inner beauty
And sometimes even wear them
Shimmering in the moonlight
The heart opening and closing
In the acceptance of breath
Transition, process
Anew

Womanhood

Womanhood
a woman in a hood
to let the hood down
let it out
breathe deeply
work
and love myself
those around me
my close and extended family
and also those I do not know

to oscillate in the wind
landing on a leaf
feeling that tomorrow may
or may not happen
but my shining self is in me
not that part that needs to say… to know
the part that knows how to laugh
that can spin on the curve of a hip
and write a story in the sand
in the eyes of a child
or a toothless grin

on what I am drawn to
writing, cooking, painting, the whole lot
and then realizing the important thing
is to be honest, to be true

to be able to look myself in in the mirror
and know I’ve tried
hard but also known how to let go
to flow with the tide and sing in the moonlight

selah, I am a ladle of sweet water
a woman, a girl
I may never be a mother
yet I hold this life
between my fingers
between my thighs
in my head
along my feet
sweet is the smell of dawn
long is the velvet night
I sigh in the silence
for more to come