25. Cathedral

The church stood in a copse of trees Twelve men and women in a circle Voices imperfect Singing doxology Singing joy Singing redemption No walls or pews The hymnals carried in memory The redwoods leafed overhead to shelter from the elements Their points steepling to the heavens The river, the wind, the birds sang with…

23. Kingdom

Nobody asked if he wanted the kingdom. Nobody questioned the crown on his head. As it lowered onto his tawny mane, he flinched as one does away from the axe. "Long live the king!" was a curse on his shoulders; it menaced like the hiss of a snake preparing to strike. And now there was…

22. Spell

a shiver of fox bones and feathers sage bundled in twine salt and water comfrey and nettle four white stones for protection turn a circle light a match inhale raise palms to a sparkling sky speak a prayer to the moon whispers and echoes a spark in the dark surge of flame in tongue of air fingertips…

21. Ash

I have had words spark on my tongue, Had fires stoke between my teeth, But like a dragon with its mouth tied shut, I have been made to sit with hot coals to scar the roof of my mouth. How often have I bitten them back? Felt the spit and crack of a shifting thought…

19. Holy

Where do I cast my sandals? Shake the rust from these chains? Make a space big enough for someone outside the universe? Who placed this burning bush before me? I feel the jolt in my stomach, Heat of hand on my back, Ash on my forehead, And oil running down, And fragrance upon fragrance like…

18. Dry

There's a ripple of sun over yellow and green, Sky splitting like popcorn kernels with burst rays across the tongue of the earth. Hot breath kicks up the dust and cuts a scar into tumbling taste buds. A crack opens up, gaping, raw, leaning down, A well-searcher, water diviner, Desperate for rain, but no clouds…

17. Ripe

Who reached out with grubby little hands to pluck a fleshy fruit from the tree? Who sighed at the scent, reeled with delight at the smooth fuzz under tiny fingertip? Who ripped with young teeth, peeled the skin, licked and gulped, and lapped the dribble of juice that escaped lips to slip down a sticky…

16. Sentinel

I charge you, great protectors at the four corners of the world, lift up your heads. Come claim your right to guard, your right to shield, to cover with feathers and wings. Where have you been sleeping? Where have you rested your heads? Lain your tired bodies? Come out of your earthen strongholds. Come forth…

14. Hold

I fear too much loss in letting go, But my hands were never meant to hold everything at once. Even places I have seen cannot be kept in this finite brain, Faces blur in the waters of memory. A ripple, a drop, Glittering reflections sift through my fingers, Never meant to catch a moving picture,…

12. Moon

The sun turns his circle and tries to kiss the moon, But she has known lovers like him before. All fire and tongue, All heavy, consuming density. She counts her puckers and pits and pockmarks, And never forgets. When he shines on her, all charm and warmth, She allows him for a moment, and then,…