Stardust

Ants, unlimited and active,

Are shooting stars

On a moonless night

Darting swiftly across the vast expanse

Without end or rest.

Eagles, attacked by blue jays,

Shake them by ascending

Thermal, hypoxic air

Between this spinning rock

And infinite dark.

I am the ant,

Digging and hauling

Building and seeking

Unaware of my cosmic counterpart.

I am the eagle,

At lower altitudes

Plagued by pecking and scratching

Transmitted through my psyche.

To know my stardust

And to meet it there —

Delivers me from these daggers

I grasp in fearful hands.

Thousands of Petals

Delicate pink blossoms float

With creek bubbles

Passing beneath a stone arch bridge

Like fairies

Grazing between willow’s soft fingers

Lily pads and lotus flowers catch them downstream

I sit on the grass amongst thousands of petals

Holding open a book I’m meaning to read

Words on the page call to me gently

But all I can think of

Is you

Fox Medicine

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)

Union Divine

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