Covered in thick metallic plates
A shield against feeling
Anything —
Not even the persistent howl
For agency
For desires you decided had to die —
Knowing that cry within myself
I sensed it
Or maybe I saw it in an amulet
When I brought you to natural, warm waters
Sheltered between lilacs and willows
We submerged our bodies in the crystal reverie
And I called that voice forward
Breathing life into dormant dreams
Now,
Will you put down your arms
And listen to him sing?
Your murmur at dawn
Is pastel poetry inked
Against cumulus clouds
Cast on an ancient lake
Awakening me with
Redwoods, clovers, and ferns
Night’s cosmos disappearing
Into the charm and radiance of your eyes
Tranquil summer rosebud beneath
Our secret morning
Emerge, yellow sanctuary,
Make life soft like peace
In still air and changing light
While giving horses alfalfa
A snapping twig turned my eyes to
Feminine power, shape-shifting creativity
Revealing herself
From the forest across dried grass
Entering the corral through its broken-open gate
In high black boots and sleek red jacket
Bold, light steps obscured her behind a berm
I nervously circled behind the stalls
And waited beneath oaks for her next move
Cresting the threshold to follow my path
She reappeared
And sat facing me in the warmth before twilight
Like she arranged our appointment
We gazed at each other for so many breaths that
A new world opened
And she guided me
Into the space between realms
(Cover art by Hannah Willow @hannahwillow.artist)
At the end of fall, I sit burned and jagged, hot and dry
Remnants of my life scattered upon me
Monuments of destruction
And you find me like this when you arrive as clouds that cover
Shielding my skin from the sun’s burning rays
Until you are mist, preparing me
To accept you as rain
Mixing with my ashes, creating fertile compost
Forming puddles under rocks and cleansing my pain
Softening the shells of my long-dormant seeds
You return as snow
Blanketing me with your cool, soothing balm
Held and holding, gently protecting my wounds
Layer by layer, inch by inch
And in perfect timing, you melt away
Caressing me, pouring into my veins
Saturating my sediment and filling my aquifers
The seeds that sprout in our entwined elements
Grow upon me, out of my ashes, in the warmth of your love
Water cascading in ribbons down mountains
Traveling through gorges, forests, and meadows
Gliding over rocks and boulders immense
Softening rough edges, each one to her will
Shifting into nourishment, soil, and roots
Exhaling as oxygen through pine needle tips
Letting go into sky into freedom into space
Transforming my heart into Divine living faith
In verdant hills I released myself
Of the bondage we built
And I maintained
Long after
You had set me free.
In the space I created
Spirit formed mist
And settled into valleys
Holding inspiration
And preludes of wings.
Never underestimate yourself
For even the smallest seed
Can break through rock
With a fragile root
And grow a tree
In the expanse of gentle
Releasing
All that we were
All that we had
And all we created
Together
I am an arc in the heavens
A dancing, vivid refraction
And reflection
Between
The rain of my heart
And
My beaming soul
May a river of love
Cascade through your being
May your soul grow
In the lush landscape of peace
glamsient.me 