Accepting the Invitation to Dine

Even the wisest of my handmaidens
don’t understand the way this vibration,
this movement that starts just inside my mouth,
at the place where my lips come together in a smile,
at the epicenter of where all things kind
have changed forever,
this pulsation of truth,
is the source of forever.

Right here inside of my mouth
the universe is transforming herself
into something wonderful.
My tongue can’t help but find the edges
of this miracle ready to explode into every cell
of my body—I’m ready to depart on this journey
to the cessation of light into light.

Who could have imagined this would happen to me
in this lifetime, with this set of maps that anyone else
would confuse for directions to nowhere. North is not
where it seems to be. The heart is the only compass available.

But you knew, from the first time you saw me,
in this simple form of woman sitting unaware
in a place of no significance,
even blinded by the illusion of beauty,
you knew that I would be here facing this lonely path.
You knew the words before I spoke them
because you’ve traced them under your skin,
you’ve wrapped your wrists like a prisoner
with the vows of loving kindness,
you knew that you’ve promised
a thousand lifetimes
to help me find my way.

I wouldn’t ask you again
to this same place of sacrifice,
our children and our honor on the line
if it didn’t matter so much to the birth of another reality.
I wouldn’t ask you again if I didn’t feel your heart
continue to beat in my own chest
when I only stop long enough
to notice one breath.
I wouldn’t ask you to help me
if I didn’t know that you are the last key
on the ring that holds the answers to everything.

I am packing my bags carefully now
one item at a time. You know how it is
to leave again the place that has become home.
Why wouldn’t I want to choose carefully the garments
I’ll wear to the place we will meet.
Each morning I bathe as if I were the bride
preparing for my groom, careful to smooth
the roughness of each weary foot, arranging
my hair and perfuming my skin with goodness,
ready to accept the invitation to dine at this shared table.

There is no hurry now because I am no longer confused
about my place in the future or how to get there.
I have meditated quietly and have been answered.
You have opened the doors fully to the truth.
I am waiting for that love to bring you home.
This is where you will remember how to love me.
This is where we will openly seek our thanksgiving
and rejoice at the abundance we’ve become.

Circle

How can I tell you about the dimensions,
the circumference of these colors and fractions of fragrance
in these places that are no longer flat,
no longer round like the curves
of the horizon,
only wave after wave of life
crashing blue, green, and healing purples
against my skin.

The sky is constantly changing in front of my watchful eye.
I have learned to read these clouds, the graying smoke signals
of change, the dreams of all the people I have been—
the love that pounds messages from stone.
Delicate petals on the white places of promises.

You circle my mind like silver
wrapped around the small bones at my wrist,
priceless, with delicate instruction
in how to take a vow.
The heat of this sincerity burns my flesh
with truth. Ink pointed under the surface of cells
helps me remember even when the body is gone.

What kindness did I lay at your feet
when you were lost
to bring this unconditional desire?
Foamy resistance to nothing
as the quiet lapping of this miracle
slowly erodes my resolve,
breaks my heart open, gushing with thankfulness.
This is the fountain where I offer you
everything I will ever be.

Wise circles of jade and gold, pink quartz,
stone and metal unite in the breath we now share.
Come find nourishment here under this wing.
Come here to the place where the swirling universe must stop,
stand completely still
and bow to love’s absolute power.