Seen in Grief

You let me see you, in your grief.

Your nervous defenses lay,

forgotten,

at your feet.

You looked at me,

not in defeat,

without pretense,

with no self-conscious deference.

There was no guile,

no fear,

no worry of being seen.

It was just you,

open,

heart and soul

bared to the elements.

Your spirit cried out 

for connection,

for soothing,

for shared peace.

And yet,

it was without supplication.

It was not demanding.

It was not entitled.

It was just you.

Your strength.

Your determination.

Your beauty.

Your grief.

You.

And in that moment,
I fell in love.

Grief

The Earth mourns

Grieving for the loss of what is holy
mourning for the squandering of what is hallowed
agonizing over the disappearance of the sacred

Lamentations blow across the barren landscapes
as the dirt cries out for sustenance
from the dying sky

Eyes dry with unshed tears...
"Every drop is sacred, don't let one drop be lost into the wailing wasteland."

Heartbreak slips through the cracks of the pavement
and rises into the blistering air

The inhabitants who are aware of the anguish
ache to assuage the pain
to end the torment
to heal the gashes that continue to rip asunder

Their keening sobs
pierce to the ends of the Universe
 crying out for justice
    for mitigation
         for reparation

And from the desolation
                rises a new breed
                       lean, strong, resolute
                                     children of the desolation

                carrying in their DNA
                     the seeds of change
    

                                    of regrowth
                                         

the downfall of the defilers

They entwine their hands in the ashes of the misery

They pour their blood

  their sweat     

their tears               

the very essence of their being           

into the wounds crying out for mending       

They reach deep into the soul                  

the core                                      

the unplumbed depths 

of Gaia

And pull forth...

Themselves

Fashioned into a new excalibur

steel Fleshed in the skin of the goddess

warriors Intertwined with nature

Symbiotic beings that reach to the sky

rooted to the core of the planet

across Time

Through space

using the ashes to mark a time of remembrance

as a memorial of contamination 

to never return to

Remembering

Remembering

When our hearts ache with yearning
for those we’ve left behind

When our eyes burn with the dryness
of too many tears

When our voices fail for all the words
that have already been spoken

When we long for past simplicity
and future contentment

When our steps falter
and our tread is heavy

When every path is beset with
da-gors, demons, and all manner of ‘ware-beasts

When all is lost and every past advantage
has wisped away to nothingness

Do not forget the path that has led us here

Remember the times of beauty

Remember the sounds of joy and ecstasy

Remember the touch of gently fierce passion

Remember the scent of freshly fallen rain

Remember that all those paths have also led you here

Them Bones

I stand in my skeletal state
Letting your rage roar through me
It scrapes across the bones of my rib-cage
Rattling through the space where my heart would be
Grasping at my xiphoid process
Wailing through my scapula
And screaming between my vertebrae

I look at you standing in your skeletal state
Snarling at the universe
Defiantly demanding what you claim you are due
Grasping, clutching, straining for something to reflesh your bones

I stand in my fully fleshed Be-ing
Watching you gnash on the scraps you've left behind but refuse to walk away from
My heart aches in sorrow at your pain
My lungs strain for breath, to voice guidance that I would willingly give
But, you reject any other reality except for the one you have chosen
And lash out in unmitigated revenge for pain meted out to you

And I stand, again, in the bones of my Be-ing
And I stand, again, in the frame of my essence
And I weep at the tragic hilarity of the fury
That sluices past me

Hoping for the day that you are able to rise again from your death
Praying for the night your bones tire of shrieking in marrow-deep wretchedness
Standing for the time you step out of yourself to truly Be.