Go
To the farthest land
On the sea-clad coast
Of nowhere.
Go early
Before the dawn can open
Her softly singing
Wings.
Go while it is dark,
To where the bells of mist spoke
Earnestly
To the constellation of eagles,
Before the spark
Of time’s beginning,
Before the hosts
Awoke
Of greedy ghosts,
Run rampant.
Go
On past the corn stalk
Of tattered tassels,
Beyond the brush overgrown,
Along the purple crowds of nettles,
Into the unknown,
By the austere
Mountain
Rose.
Go, and do not stop,
Until you
Stand
Finally,
At the foot of cliffs towering
And stern.
There you may find
Then, the three-spired rock
Delicate in the owl-lit night,
Ethereal ancestor of the cosmos, from
Whom the worlds arose
And to whom they will yet return,
Packed up and put to sail in the long canoe
Of goldenrod
And willow
To ply
The hummingbird’s river journey
Of stars and hidden skies.
Soon, during the war of endings,
What may follow
The tumult, the rain, the mad-clapping torrent?
Will an echo
Of peace settle
On the saffron petal
Of the buffalo burr
On the canyon wall,
Gathering place of so many
Prescient ravens,
The way a moth lights atop
The shimmering leaf,
Or a silver minnow
Rests in the brook’s golden
Shadow?
Beyond, where the winds walk,
Within the cavern
Of the three-spired rock,
Abide the translucent
Flames of the sun,
The bright-
Oared ship of the moon’s daughters.
There, the young coyote
Circling,
Lies
Down with his fellows to nod
Off in their leafen lair.
All day the woodpeckers knock
And drum,
Outside on the winding tree,
The scent of the pine blossom,
Set adrift.
The blur
Of the rock wren
Will grace
The sparkling bowl
Of spring,
And the fierce spirit of the blue
And gold god
Will lift
His silver bow
To let fly
The twang of the moment of justice.
Ever still
Within the three-spired rock
Lights the cosmic soul
The ineffable one,
While white snow
Will fall
On the eyes
Of the shining waters.
There will be nothing to fear
Then,
In the ill-defined
Hours, even
Of the shaggy bear,
Pacing
Or
The teeth flashing
Of the great whale coursing
The deeps of the sounding sea.
© Sharon St Joan, 2013
Photo: © Sharon St Joan