Spiritual Artists Hearthfire

Ellen Polley

Peregrine

I need to fly

And you know it..

I need to fly

And you understand..

I am content

For the most part

To sit on your wrist

And commune with you,

Because I love you.

You do not seek

To hood my eyes

Or tie me to you

With silken jesses,

But are entirely satisfied

With the invisible bonds

Of love and trust.

You do not choose

My targets for me,

But instinctively sense

When I have sighted my own.

You intuit my restlessness

And when my longing peaks,

You raise your arm

And fling me into the sky

To pursue my quarry.

You do not need a lure

To draw me back,

You are my lodestone.

Grasping my prey

In talons and beak,

Flushed with victory

And certain of your praise,

I return to your wrist

To share my prize with you.

I need to fly-

You revel in my flight!

The Abyss

Here I stand,
Poised on the edge of a great abyss
That plunges downwards forever.
There is no way that it may be traversed,
But cross I must, for the path behind me
Has crumbled into ruins and no longer leads back..

Shrieking and gibbering below me,
Roiling and writhing, lies my every misdeed.
Every failed dream, every empty promise,
Every evil thought, every fault-
They rise up, animate, to indict me.
I quail and know I cannot remain here..

And then , on the far side of the chasm,
A glowing cruciform light- a sword - ominous and mighty,
Balanced on its point, puissant with latent authority.
Gripping its quillons are the hands I know so well
And his voice sounding as uncompromising as the sword,
"Trial by ordeal my love, come to me..."

He grips the sword's haft and its tip rests at my feet,
The blade a fearful bridge spanning the maw-
Perilous, implacable- an impossible route,
Its keen edges mute witness to my plight.
Behind me the way is closed, below, madness and death,
Ahead, the sword path, a test of all I am..

Naked, barefoot, hair unbound, I focus inwards
To gather my strength, for I must cross alone.
I must not look back, the past cannot succour  me,
I must not look down lest vertigo claim me,
And I must not look to him, for he cannot help me,
He can only hold the sword steady and the way open..

The path is a true one! Certainty fills me
As I place one foot on the blade..and then the other,
The nightmares from below erupt around me,
Flying in my face, clamouring in my ears, tearing at my body!
In the onslaught I falter, appalled,
And my blood flows crimson on the shining blade..

But..I do not fall! Amazement fills me
As I feel myself centring. Intent on reaching the other side,
I walk across, step by bloody step, sure of my goal now.
The abyss shrinks below me and disappears
As I step down onto firm ground.

He puts the sword into my hands and covers them with his own.
"You have passed over safely..The trial is ended..
By the sacrifice of blood and spirit
You join me in the Light and we are one..
By choice and ritual, the beginning is here,
And it leads us on forever.."

My love, I am not a wall walker.

My love, I am not a wall walker.
I cannot stay behind
Wringing my hands
And weeping,
Waiting for you
To fight our battles.

I cannot just
Buckle on your armour,
Offering you the stirrup cup,
And watch you ride away
To take up the challenge.

I cannot stay here
And spend my days in prayer,
Bruising my knees
Petitioning the gods for victory
And hoping for your safe return.

Let me be your shield companion-
I will stand proudly by your side
Or back to back, embattled,
Slaying my share of the foes,
Engaged in the fray.

Let me fight beneath your banner,
Share your bivouac,
And give you my counsel.
Far better this battle together
Than the death of waiting.

Love's Wick

Pewter skies scowl..
Smoky ground fog
Shrouding reluctant landscape,
Muffling sight and sound,
Evolves as the wind wakes,
Shredding haze
Into tattered streamers
Fluttering a desolate goodbye,
Voice building to a wail..
Iron clouds release
Icy tears into
The dreary day,
Sheeting against
Warm, inviting windows..

Inside, flame burns steadily,
Fervently, blissfully,
Reflected in eyes
Brimming with dreams
Nurtured in blanket castles..
Monarchs dally
On pillowed ramparts,
Kissing, giggling,
Happily sighing..
Murmured reveries
Take wing.
Will o' wisp fancies
Dance outward,
Twinkling through
Glass panes
Into leaden exterior..

Comforted skies
No longer weep..
Lamenting wind
Stills..
Sunlight kindles
From Love's wick
And all the realm
Is golden..

PoeTree

Tree, tree !!
I am like you
And you
Are like me..

In the same season
Both from seed
We sprang
And passed from
Warm, safe darkness
Into a cold bright world

Tree, your parents
Lived close by
Such a nice family
But my parents would never
Let me sleep over at your house.

You grew so quickly
And were always
Skinnier than me
But I was faster-
Beat you at running games.

And now, I am leaving
The house with the white fence
With your house close by
I am going into the wide world
And you already have offshoots.

Let us hold sacred the secrets
We whispered and the laughter
That quaked us- proof against
Rain, snow and disappointment-
Our roots intertwined forever
Each day the time of our greening.