All the Saints Here Gathered

  

"Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to
separate

the day from the night,

and let them serve as

signs to mark sacred times..."

~God

There were sacred writings

everywhere they looked

markings and unknown tongues

histories arcane and runic

queer and obscure

 

but they could not be mistaken for anything but

sacred

Holy

Set apart and gathering together

set apart for the sake of gathering together

for that

is what makes them

Sacred

 

Calling together

the beloved community

coyotes and sassafras aglow

and mortals and angels

and butterflies feasting

on the old soft Pawpaw fruit

and those in between and beyond

All called as

 

One

 

And there was nothing beyond the realm

of this Sacred,
One

There is Hope

The way before us
is only sure for a while
and then
there is hope
and that is not nothing

But should the hope of
Hope
not be enough
there are friends and
community

and that
is a great deal

I Had a Dream

In my dream, I was feeling ill
heavy
bloated
slow-moving
weighed down

I went to the doctor's office
where they did some tests and seemed quite concerned
but also unsure of what to do next

So they recommended more tests from
more doctors
and told me to get with the front desk to find out details of where to go

The trip to this new place seemed to take a long time
I just remember feeling more and more weighed down
bigger
as if this illness was literally making me rounder
larger

The directions led me further from a developed city and
further into the woods
until I was literally on a path in the woods

At the "end of the woods"
or so it felt
there was a beautiful
oddly-shaped tree

I felt I was supposed to climb it
but by this point
I was totally worn out
I felt even more tired
uncomfortably physically larger
my legs were tired
my hands were swollen and I just couldn't do it

On top of that
there was a storm brewing
the wind was menacing
leaves were whipping around like vengeance

Then
the wolf showed up

In my fear I began climbing the tree

Up I climbed
further than necessary to escape the wolf

Up into the blowing leaves
with the limbs whipping around
threatening to knock my tired and gravity-soaked body to the ground

Having secured a large flat branch below me and
with the tree against my back
I stood up and stretched out my arms
enjoying the terrifying wind that was flowing through the forest
like an out-of-control river.

As I stretched out my arms and stood there
autumn leaves blowing all around
parts of "Me" were blowing off as well
all that bloating and excess that I had accumulated
were blowing off just like the leaves that were blowing off the trees

I began to feel lighter
less weighed-down
more invigorated and still the wind whipped off bits of me to flutter away

Finally I reached a point where I was so light
so freed from gravity
that I knew I wouldn't be able to stand there much longer

And so
I fell

But by that time, there wasn't much of "me" left and
with the sky clearing and the wind lessening to a gentle breeze
I floated down to the ground below like just another autumn leaf

Although I thought I was dying by then
it was an exhilarating and freeing fall to the forest floor
that seemed to last a very long time