Poetry for Brigid

To mark Imbolc (aka Candlemas, aka Brigid's Day), here is my selection for the Third Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Reading.

The Moon is Always

The moon is always you, and I am drawn
to trace the ripe crescent swelling around
your hip, the arc of your throat, the classic curve
of your eyes, and the velvet indigo shadow beneath.

You are always the moon, and I ache in your
absence, although you never leave me for long,
lingering late into the morning and ascending
again in the afternoon, balm for my sun-blind eyes.

The moon is waxen, bloodless.
The moon does not have your mouth.
The moon does not contain your breath.

You are never the moon, but your dimpled
skin is luminescent, it gleams and lures my gaze,
my hands, and I am always reaching for you.

The moon is never you, but I arch to your rhythms
all the same, and I weep relief with the crashing
tidal pool upon your every return.

The moon has a profile that changes with perspective,
and I have written encrypted love poems within
its every dimple and shadow, secrets that borrow
light from our love making to illuminate
the stars and blaze our skins and stories across the sky.

This moon is only for us.

Chandra Mayor

Blessed Equinox

Autumn Equinox is a time for thanksgiving in most traditions. Looking over the past year and finding things to be "thankful" for has been a difficult task for me. I often find the questions a lot more difficult than the answers. With that in mind, here's my gratitude list:

• friends, family and colleagues who are kind, caring, accepting and loving
• a place to live safely
  
• work that is meaningful, challenging and life-changing
• music, because without it the rest is silence

Autumn Equinox is also a time of separation, as Demeter says goodbye to her daughter Persephone, who now travels to spend six months in the Underworld. It is always more difficult to find faith in the midst of struggle, and this year I have struggled to find the faith I need to move forward in my life.

As Demeter struggles to accept loss, so too do I try to accept and grieve those things that have been lost to me. That which has died shall be reborn.

As Persephone struggles to accept change, so too do I try to accept and embrace those things that have been given to me. That which was separated shall be reunited.

Great is the wisdom of the Goddess
For She gives us our time of rest
And separation from the world's desires
That we may be refreshed and renewed once more
For all forms must die to be reborn
Now let the cutting crone fulfill her purpose

May the circle never be broken
May the earth always be whole
May the rattle ever be shaken
May the Goddess live in our souls

Blessed Be.

--
All items in red are from Ariadne's Thread by Shekhinah Mountainwater.

Isis! Isis! Ra Ra Ra!

Fly Like an Egyptian (Goddess) - This is SO on my wish list, just for the intro alone.