We have come...

"We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
But the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
Shaman shaking ancient bones dance
The strip us from our casings, return our wings
Sharpen our claws and tongues dance
The shed dead cells and slip into
The luminous skin of love dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath and beat dance
The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
The mother may I?
Yes you may take ten giant leaps dance
The olly olly oxen free free free dance
The everyone can come to our heaven dance.

We have come to be danced Where the kingdoms collide
In the cathedral of flesh To burn back into the light
To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced! We have come."

~ by Jewel Mathieson

*fractures*

I know that
web like fractures
Decorate
your heart’s thin glass
I recognize the signs
All to well

Your timid steps
and hushed voice
An attempt to hinder
the outstretching lines
Reluctant to spread
the icy crackling
Within

Once our beloved
is lost to us
We may feverishly moan
throughout the night
the heat of our yearning
pouring from our
restless body
leaving us chilled

or simply…

Sulk
in stagnant waters
no longer nourished
by the ebb and flow
of loves current
Lost to the
shadowy silhouette
Of withered blossoms
We once so tenderly
Beheld

Know this…

Beyond the
seasonal flowerings
of your garden
lie timeless forests
Orchards with
Ever bearing fruits
Never touched
By decay’s fingers
Nurtured by the
Deepest of springs

It is our desire
to remember these
Sacred groves
within ourselves
Which creates need
For these lamenting
songs of surrender

I offer
this soul’s blanket
patched by my love
stitched with my
own tears
Shed while dancing
To the music of
My thin glass
Cracking

*~S~*

To my many reflections

Golden soft curves
Painfully smooth
Against my own
Coarseness

Star deep eyes
Lock my gaze
No recourse left
Except to dive in

Submerging waters
Offer no safety
Ever distant shore
Dwindles
Out of sight

Fear cripples limbs’
Graceful movements
Undermining purpose
In this dance

I would hope
To drown
A thousand times
In this ocean
Of my heart

Than to spend
Another single
Moment
Beached on that
Arid shore

Longing
To taste
What I once
Believed
Was only
A mirage

*~S~*