Apart

I treasure all those moments
Wrapped within your arms
Content and spent and heaven sent
Safe from fear and harm
I linger in those memories
Let them fill my mind
To try and keep my tears away
When your hand can’t reach mine

Chorus:
I drive too fast on my way to you
On my way to your embrace
I race toward your loving arms
To see the smile upon your face
But when I leave you, I drive slowly
With an ache inside my heart
For every mile I’m closer to home
Is one more we’re apart

Alone inside my room at night
The coldness in my bed
The emptiness that creeps inside
My weary, lonely head
Are constant when you’re far away
So very hard to take
For loneliness and sorrow do
Poor companions make

Chorus

Bridge:
I cry myself to sleep at night
While memories put up a fight
To keep me up when I’m alone
Without you here, it’s not a home

And then we stand as one once more
As trees whose roots entwine
Rooted deeply, we stand strong
In love that’s touched divine
Our branches reach up through the sky
Beyond the loftiest height
Where Gods and Angels make their homes
It’s there our love takes flight

Chorus

Silent Anticipation

Here I stand,
Waiting so patiently.
My mind wandering,
Seeking, hoping, dreaming.
Remembering what has come before,
Looking on toward what is yet to come.

And then it happens:
A quickening of my pulse,
A sensual catch in my breath.
All so seemingly slight,
Yet deep and satisfying.

A soft smile creeps onto my face
As I slowly recognize this sensation,
This set of responses
Lost and suppressed for so long.

I rejoice in the return of the butterflies
And all they stand for
As I continue to wait
In silent anticipation
For you.

Daybreak

Lazy morning sunlight creeps through the windows
Softening the shadows on your face
Playing in the hair round your brow
Stirring you from your dreams

Slowly your eyes open and find me there
In the quiet of the dawn
With Eostre’s kiss upon us
And your lips seeking to find mine

Cradled in the warmth of sleep
Silently feeling one another in lucid bliss
Awakening the senses
Awakened and alive

The early morning is our time
Before the world begins her day
Before the household joins the fray
Before time locks us away from one another again

Behold, your face so close to mine
Behold, your hands upon my hips
Behold, your love wrapping us in its embrace
Behold, all these things echoed back to you in full

Behold, you
Behold, me
Behold, us
Together

A Baltic Tale of Night and Day

Golden-haired Saule sat alone, spinning her amber wheel, weaving the very thread of life when the Moon first laid eyes upon her. Fiery Saule, richly dressed in golden silk raiment and crowned with shining jewels, was a vision of sparkling loveliness that Menulis could not resist. Menulis, silver-dressed Guardian of Night and Time, won the heart of his Balta Saulite, his Darling Little Sun, after much courting, and they were wed in the Primeval Spring. First born to the Sun and Moon was Žeme, the Earth, followed by Vakarine, the evening star, and most beautiful Aušrine, the morning star.

The family fell quickly into routine. Aušrine burned the morning fire and made Saule ready for her journey across the sky, for every morning Saule drove her Chariot of Fire into the sky, leading her white mares on to the Baltic Sea where she was met by her companion, Perkunele, who bathed the weary Sun Maiden at the end of her journey. Saule’s chariot was transformed into a gilded boat when it reached the sea, and guided by Perkunele, she sailed home to where Vakarine had prepared her bed that she may rise, rested and prepared for the next day’s journey.

Each day’s journey was shared with the bearded Sky God, Perkunas the Thunder, who rode alongside Saule in his own chariot, carrying his lightning-bolt sword and stone axe. Needless to say, Perkunas and Saule were close as brother and sister, and it was with great sadness in his heart that Perkunas noted the roving of Menulis. Saule, who rose very early, retired for the evening shortly after Menulis ascended to rule the night, and he was easily and often led astray by the shimmer of a nearby star while Saule slept. Perkunas was keenly aware when Menulis became overly interested in Aušrine, the Morning Star, even more beautiful than her mother with her mother’s golden hair, adorned with a sun crown and a starry mantle closed with a moon-shaped brooch. One fatal morning, as he was returning from a night alone in the sky, Menulis gave in to his obsessive desires and took Aušrine as she prepared the fires for her mother, tearing her starry mantle and flippantly tossing aside her crown. Perkunas became so enraged at the sight that he slashed at Menulis with his lightning sword, leaving the scars on his face that may be seen in the night sky even still.

Saule was so angry with Menulis for his infidelity that she declared an end to their marriage, banishing him to dwell in the night sky alone. With her head held high and her daughters by her side, Saule continued her work on her own, the Matriarch of the Sky who watches all the Children of the Earth herself and still finds time to dance upon the hills in silver shoes with joy in her heart, Saule, the Golden Apple of the Sun.

Broken Silence

Soft, silken skin
Asleep on my breast
So tranquil and precious
The house lies in rest
Except for you and I, love
Alone in my room
I bask in this moment
Gone all too soon

You sit and you crawl
You stand and you run
The world is your playground
You’re having such fun
My curly-haired angel
So careless and free
Yet locked in your mind where
You can’t talk to me

They cry, “Mommy, Mommy”
The kids come to play
Their mothers all answer
And carry them away
In silence I hold you
So close to my heart
And hope you can hear me
Wherever you are

Doctors and teachers
Label you as they please
Discussing you case
In third person with ease
I carry a smile so
My tears won’t begin
As I let go of hopes and
Reality sinks in

Slowly your future
Takes shape in my mind
More questions to ask
No answers to find
‘Til one day the sun through
These dark clouds does peek
You open your mouth
You look at me and speak

They cry, “Mommy, Mommy”
Our kids in the street
We mothers collect you
Lift you off your feet
Don’t know how much more
You’ll be able to say
But “Mommy” alone will suffice for today

Five years of waiting
To hear your sweet voice
It still rings like bells
Makes my heart rejoice
The silence is broken
Now sprout those seeds
Of hope I thought lost
As you start to read

Read to me, Timmy
Your voice is my song
Your voice is a gift
So precious and strong
So many years of
Silence and strife
Are whispered away by
Your voice in my life

Read to me, Timmy
The book of your choice
Just read to me, love
And let me hear your voice

Boann and the Well of Segais

Boann and Bebhionn were as opposite as day and night, one as bright and vibrant as the sun, the other as deep and sensual at the night, both visions to behold. The sisters were always very close—and sometimes prone to mischief in their curiosity, for both were amazed by all manner of wonderful things in the world.

At the age of marriage, the sisters were courted by several men. Bebhionn was happily wed to Aed Alainn. The lovely Boann had caught the eye of the Keeper of the Sacred Well of Segais, Nechtain. Now, the Well of Segais was said to be full of the Waters of Inspiration and Knowledge, and only Nechtain and his three cupbearers were permitted to approach the Well, for one unbidden glance into the Well would, in the very least, strike the violator blind. While taking a walk one afternoon, Nechtain’s carefree path lead the two within distant eyesight of the Well. As beautiful as it was ancient, the Well was surrounded by nine hazel trees, heavily laden with the largest hazelnuts Boann had ever seen! When Nechtain realized where he had taken them, he hastily turned, and they began to walk away, but Boann’s thoughts remained on the Well.

For days, Boann dreamt of the Well and imagined all manner of life and gifts teeming within. She was driven to discuss her preoccupation with Bebhionn, whose eyes widened with wonder as Boann wove her imagery round her sister. Bebhionn, being happily married and uninterested in disfigurement, was easily swayed away from the curiosity that consumed her sister, and she left Boann with a warning to avert her thoughts as well.

One day while picking berries for a pie, Boann found herself once more within eyesight of the Well. She waited. She saw no one. She waited a bit more. Still, she saw none. She waited yet longer, and suddenly her stillness was broken when a splash echoed toward her from within the Well. And then another. She took a few careful steps toward the Well, and before her eyes, she saw a great salmon jump out of the Waters, shimmering in rainbows of sunlight, to eat of the hazelnuts on the trees surrounding the Well. At the sight of the magnificent fish, Boann forgot all about the warnings and dangers of the Well. She only wanted to see, for so inspiring were the Waters within that the mere echo of their splashing enraptured the mind.

Boann approached the Well with an awe and innocence that belied her age. She cautiously placed a hand on the side of the Well and peered in. In a moment’s instance, the Well began to shake and crack, and the Waters began to rise up in a great wave. Boann let out a shocked cry as the Waters whipped round, slashing her arm. Boann began to run. Behind her, the Waters continued to spiral round and round and finally slammed through the sides of the structure, shattering the walls of stone. Freed from their Ancient tomb, the Waters began to chase after Boann, erasing her footprints almost as fast as she made them.

On and on, across the breadth of the Island, the Waters pursued her until she finally leapt into the Sea, where she was caught by a surprised Manannan mac Lir. The Waters were calmly assumed into the Sea where they disappeared into the inky depths with a final, silvery flicker. Manannan, much surprised by the sudden disruption in his day looked toward the path where Boann had come, taking in the breathtaking view of a silvery river, almost laughing in its freedom and sparkling freely in the sunshine.

And so it was that Boann freed the Waters of Knowledge and Inspiration and brought them to the land.

Beauty Hidden in the Sands

Letters, Words,
Written on my heart,
Skin ink stabbed into a fragile countenance.
Each prick awakening the soul
As sensations travel down my spine;
Words echoing through my dreams.

Dust-covered desires are washed new
By waves of emotion
Once wading of a calm pool,
Now roused into a roaring sea.
Desires caught up in a storm of potential,
Of raging, unspoken words
Fighting to find their voice
Amongst the throes of their tumultuous,
Thunderous existence
While the gathering froth whirls round the rocks,
Compelled toward the shore by his breath,
Seeking order to their chaotic dance.

He whispers; he speaks; he shouts,
His voice ebbing and flowing as the tide
Through my consciousness.
The cadence slows, and I hold my breath
In silent anticipation as I am drawn out to sea,
Drowning in longing,
Building, mounting.

The cadence soars and so, too, do I,
Riding the cusp of waves of words as though I have wings
Ablaze with burning questions ignited by the embers
Of once dormant hopes for what may come to pass,
Even if time-touched moments alone,
Stolen and released once more into the steamy void between us.

When the words cease, I remain buoyed,
Softly floating on my sea of unrequited love,
Yearning to be washed upon the shore,
Though fearing that I shall remain buried there
As a misplaced or cast away treasure
Shimmering in the sun and
Waiting to be discovered
By he who will marvel to find
Such hidden beauty in the sands.