An old poem written in 2009, revised in 2011

and now revised once again reflecting my grief

 

 

WHAT RISES FROM FIRE

 

1.

the flames licked her heart

reaching upward devoured

her body, her mind

the heat melting all

 

she stood watching

as it collected to itself

all she held dear

then consumed that too

 

a smoking shadow

all that was left

everything

she counted on

 

changed & altered

charred & transmogrified

 

2.

Prometheus

Vulcan

Agni

 

Pele

Vesta

Brigid

 

fires of inspiration

fires of the hearth

sacred fires

 

goddesses

dancing the flames

and their teaching:

 

this guest

dressed in an Inferno

rising from the earth

beneath her feet

 

is not death

but rebirth

and awakening

 

3.

listening to the woodlands

sizzle

watching the land

glow and pulse

a heart exposed

beating,  beating

 

a dream in reds & oranges:

fire swirl

storm of smoke

that smoke hissing

 

mystery

give your self

to it

offer everything

 

to the sacred flames

saying

your power

cannot destroy what is timeless

 

I still stand 

deep scars charred

across my heart

I still stand

 

4.

& finally the rains came

& with them a greening

what had been there

underneath

 

not destroyed but transmuted

something new & beautiful

yet familiar

there in the ashes

 

5.

what alchemy

is this

that rises

from the inflamed heart?

 

from that pile of grief

& burnt things came

a most magnificent fragrance

myrrh & cinnamon & spice

 

rising from the ashes

smoky & velveteen

a black pearl

 

its nacre lustrous

a substance

surrounding

light 

reflecting

a new iridescence

 

 

                                                                                                Laura Pendell