New Beginnings

touch builds momentum in the bloodstream
accumulates
like silt in the delta
layers of history
greening the edge of our knowing
we reassemble the edifice of the past
as if there will be a chance of salvage
there will not, we sense the tragedy
yet some new beauty grows
rooting us in this time, this place
completing the circuit of earth and stars
our lives no longer defined by birth or intention
but by willingness to inhabit this moment

we will grind the old stones into pigment
and paint our skins with glyphs of pleasure
we will dance around our fire
and invite the hungry ghosts
to sup at our feast
for there is room now in this new place
and bounty

this is what I want:
to lie in the sun
to feel heat in my bones
to be gathered like brush
and rekindled
for you to trace your story with tongues of flame
to find my story in the calligraphy of curves and hollows
paper held over fire
a hidden language emerging
from the alchemy of trust


~ Yvonne MacKenzie