A falling star, burning white-hot
Strikes the world
And brings
Death,
Destruction,
Agony,
Suffering,
Chaos,
Motion,
Life.
An angel from Heaven
Comes to Earth
They say it brings
Souls
One part, three parts, five
Puts them in the red soil
Mixed with water
Warmed by fire
Moved
By breath
By voice
It cries out
And they say,
"This is when it gets a soul."
Another says,
"No, before."
A third says,
"We cannot know."
But, I think
That it gets a soul
When it is red earth
When it is shaped clay
When it breathes, cries out
When it walks, works,
Dies
Soul, i think, is like
Knowledge
It is something forever growing,
Ch
Though only seen,
the hills do yet scrape at my cheek
their many branches dwarfed
by distance
they seem as bristles on a brush
left on the side of the road
by some loose-fingered traveler
a raptor drifts overhead
white wing tips like warning lights
hangs
then sharply turns
as though avoiding a hole in the air
or some miasma
the side of the road is marked
by felled youngling maple and boxwood
cut as short as hands and steel are able
to keep them, perhaps
from growing too much over the road
that road
also marked by clusters
of rare white birch
peeling away from itself
and frequently, firs
that road is a trembling thing
n
black/white
red is the first colour
the colour of
blood
soil
animal life
they say there's red and green
sometimes others
life
what do you call one
who is both?
twsting hair like willow branches
(also dandelion petals, chicory)
hanging over sweetwater springs
red bark
red sap
red leaves
green soul-mind
bodies like the black river soil
soft and warm and full of promise
round as the earth
round as the river bend
courtly love
love for one whom one cannot have
but devotion to them
going beyond the physical
beyond matters of affection
and where red ribbons reach
religion of love
where god is love
because love is god
n
The small white area
At the base of fingernails
Also, a name for parentheses
(or any crescent-shaped mark)
It means 'little moons' in Latin
A more elegant and lovely name
For such simple little things
I cannot easily imagine
It would be a fine name
For a child
Or perhaps
A boat
i have seen you in dreams
black hair rising like a fire
a liveliness that burns
love
of life
of light
of you
i tried to explain
but there was a fox there
even though
my lord removed it
my words were caught in my throat
so much air
stuck
soundless
we stood there
it was much later
and much earlier
i thought
then
that you were my daughter
i hadn't yet known that kind
of affection
and it was confused
for a different sort
you and i
holding as one
bowstrings
heartstrings
pulled back
from the bow
from the bone
was i teaching you
or were we
learning together
one hand
one eye
one
floating down the river Skai
dreamers plied the ancient course
i waved to you as i drifted by
you tapped a greeting back in Morse
dreamers plied the ancient course
moved by oar, or shaft, or sail
you tapped a greeting back in Morse
in orichalcum dreamer's mail
moved by oar, or shaft, or sail
you go to battle a watery foe
in orichalcum dreamer's mail
armed with helm, and net, and bow
you go to battle a watery foe
Noden's blessing makes you light
armed with helm, and net, and bow
you rowed ahead to meet the fight
Noden's blessing made you light
both ship and warrior swiftly move
you row ahead to meet the fight
as though you h