Climbing the Hill

Your eyes penetrate me as you watch Me climb the hill in the early morning light Amidst the pines and manzanita. She stands next to you motionless Waiting for your signal- You must feel safe with me- The strength of your body protecting you. Your antlers a statement of your power. This timeless encounter shoves me into Passages I glimpse in dreams and interludes That allow this body and this life To relinquish its boundaries. What do you see in my eyes? Who are you, my year-king, the stag Who gives himself in sacrifice to the goddess? Your doe awaits you here In this forest As I approach and offer you The lifetimes we walked together In other lands, in other forms. Places of intense sun and desert landscapes- Oases of date palms and watering holes- the Babylonian palaces, the Sumerian writing tablets. Your eyes take me into images of this life- My love swimming under waterfalls Smiling like a King to his consort as he emerges From behind the glistening water renewed. Beckoning me to join him- To move rhythmically as the water Washes over us in our bliss. The dizzying power of bodies together Is what you present to me In your regal stance That moment in the forest. So much emerges from your eyes: The longing for my beloved as I watch Him leaving on a journey. I smile at him from the portico of the palace As I embrace our young son. The joy we feel as our eyes meet for the last time.- In our youth, our faith in life, We do not know this is the final time Our gaze will meet in these bodies. It is the way of the times-you leave and I stay Waiting, waning.. and now you are here. I marvel at your face my Babylonian king Here with me in the lower chambers Allowing me this moment of seeing Deep into your soul. The passage is over. The images of lifetimes recedes As your body sends messages to your doe To gently walk further into the forest As I climb the hill towards home.

A Poem by Mary Sullivan