He rises through me, passing through my teeth like gravel

Bile from my center, the fear rising to meet You

I’m suddenly caught off guard by Your advances

Spitting out the boney shards, unfocused

I am taken over by the Desire

Drunk on rusty, honey mead, lapping from Your chalice

I refused You once, but no more

Entering the twisted, spiral Grotto

Stumbling blindly through a liminal maze of secrets

The dead, rising up like the Past, whispers of memories I’d like to forget

Bashing my head on the low hanging presence of regret

Chased by a Minotaur of future Vision

My eye drying up like the river before us

You urged me into the boat, like Charon

The waves crashing at our vessel as good men work above

We’re off course, dearest Wotan

No angular stone to guide us through the storm

The sun is lost to us now, Odin

We sink into the fissure created by pesky, impulsive actions

We’re beyond teardrops now, furious at ourselves

Gasping for air, You & I, Grasping

Strangling each other for comfort

Swinging from the Hangman’s knot

We’re the Fools & The Magicians

Working for the Star

Upside down, ALGIZ

Rarely ISA

Reaching for the Balance of Dagaz, the Day

Grinning into our Twin Mirrors – the Window of the Soulless

I reached for You, You reached for the Light

The torch burned me when I sought Sanctuary

On that Moonless Mabon night

You gaped at my naivety, perfect Love & Trust

Oscillating between the worlds, on that Old Apple tree

When I cried for Your help I thought You abandoned me, Berserker

You showed me a sideways mirror when You were nowhere to be found

Rightly so. I stared into the reflection of a broken little girl.

I could remain here, bound by Your disbelief

But You didn’t shed a Tyr

Broken & distorted from the perception of Your words

I could give up; Succumb to the poison from Your perfect lips

Or entertain the Circus of Your thoughts

amaranthine

Alone? No.

My friends, the wolves, will emerge soon from the furrow

Giving my flesh a clean shave & collecting on old debts

I can finally breathe now – having shed You from my core

At the Crossroads – my own thoughts return in a cluster

Now bound in a jar, buried but not forgotten

As I turn from that place, to leave the silent crushing behind

I hear You murmur

Need a good laugh?

So do I, All-Father.

Let’s dance! Let’s battle once more! Let’s get giddy on moonlight!

Life is more than laughter, peace, & unrequited love

It is the lessons from trauma You’ve awakened

What weapons we have forged, Odin?

There are no more victims in us, no more survivors

Only masters. Let’s be the unseen manifestation!

Now, take my hand, my ring, my words – AND SWING!

HAIL!