Christiana Aro-Harle

I

I see Sun standing still
A shadow to follow on the face of my wall
I mark the place
Day in, Day out
Over years.
I follow Sun passing through
A late rising farther in the southeast
A fast setting farther southwest
I mark her coming and going in the white snow blanket
With the shadows of Tree
Expectation in heart of There She Comes!

I think of ancestors long ago
Somehow exploding off of some Foremother
Making me
And them watching from the skies
Looking below
All other beings growing, sleeping, waiting
Hard under and over
How did they think of this time?

Was it Sun who stood still
hands on hip, cup in hand, between antler pair, on chariot, chased across the sky, between beak? 
the dance of great give-away which gave way?

Oh Sun Oh Sun
You return now!
With Light and Love and Fruitfulness!

II

Maybe way back when
When Earth, when She was Mistress and we knew all beings
Were from her and returned to her 
Before we became Sun-centred

Fold upon fold, layer upon layer, reed upon weed, fluid stone
Turning to dust, water clearing and moving, sitting and waiting in frozen crystals, foot and feather tracks, roots and branches, fins and cups, armoured scales and fur, tufts and clumps, sod and silt, one-leg, no-leg, two-leg, four-leg, thousand-leg, six-leg, eight-leg - ALL

Maybe way back when when She was Mistress
All Life magnetised between these two
And they KNEW that they stood still at this one moment
Gazing at one another, wondering, longing, questioning their relationship, pulling on ancient song-held agreements of Life and Transformation,
Spinning of fruiting, freezing, seeding, raining, drying, returning to soil
Earth in her skirts all present, no one leaving, only changing.

III
Water is there there is no more.
Soil there is there is no more.
Air there is there is no more. 

IIII

Maybe way back when the monoliths and bear stones,
Maybe way way back then when tors and stone circles, 
menhirs and mounds,
Maybe way way back then when seitä and ova, 
cairns and deer stones were placed;
When fogous and quoits, 
water paths and springs were the way 
of the watching, measuring, reflecting and seeing all our faces?

Human hands built and watched, danced and measured with footstep, sunrise and set. 
Measured with hands, wood, bone and stone, depth and shallow.
Sunrise and Sunset, 
Moon & Earth dancing out 
Dancing
Weaving and stillness
Humans absorbing, feet against soil, turning out, stepping in.

A Voice sung out 
Finding the way 
She stood still for a couple of turns thought: Why do I return?”

Maybe way back when we lived.
We knew maybe way back when that we needed one another to convince Earth to keep holding hands with Sun, to keep holding hands with us and swing a return.
And maybe way back when we knew that when we danced, sang, sprouted wings and feathers, grew antlers, claws and tails, twigs and grasses, gave words of endearment, fed and feasted one another we played out the longing and desiring of Earth and Sun
for one another.

Please return!

V

I Planted words, seeds of heart to grow. 

Wht t fck eye ws Jst Ahppy!

The dark is moist soil, coals and ash, the stump full of Beings which I know are in there. 

Waiting for Warmth to come rising and falling upon their beings. 

What is this that I think I know? That I should know they are waiting for this? 

How presumptuous!

VI

Joy and Critic. 
Mirror and Arrow. 
Wax and Propolis. 
Honey and Spice. 
This is a warm place around me. 
Stillness.
I am content here. There are others with me. I am not alone. 
Return if you will but I shall stay here for just a while longer.
In this nest 

To see your face again! 
To swing around
Spin around
Return Light
Relish the last drops of darkness that is such fertile soil
And try one more time
To hold Life upright….and not just remember.

ALL texts COPYRIGHT BY CHRISTIANA FOR HUMAN USE. 

AI is forbidden here.