Swan Songs

On SoundCloud HERE 

I cannot teach you languages,
nor histories of nations and men,
nor can I teach you of wars and rebellions;
but I can teach you of the stars and sky,
the silt and dirt of this dear Earth.

I can teach you why your heart flutters
at the sight of beauty
and why the touch of another
is the hand of a most holy angel.

I can show you galaxies undiscovered by mankind
until the reflection of your own soul appears,
in cloudbursts blanketing the sky.

I can tell you why your feet, bare,
long to hug the sand and soil.

You are a channel to the divine.
Do you not recognize the call of birdsong at early dawn?
How can you deny your breath and body?
It is made of the same elements as driftwood and thunder.

Your voice is that of lightning,
your breath,
the aether of ancient firmaments,
ones your ancestors sat and prayed beneath,
bedouins in the searing sun,
the sweetest eye of heaven.

Come, take my hand,
I shall lead you to yourself.

You have seen the well-worn path,
wooded and weary
by lakes and rivers.

You know the way, you may have forgotten.

Come, come follow me into what is known and unknown,
what is truth and fiction,
where there is no language,
only sight,
where swan songs are heard,
deep, meditative ruminations,
trumpeting supplications to the great Gods.

Come, come follow me into what is known and unknown,
what is truth and fiction,
where there is no language,
only sight,

and walk proudly, dear soul,
walk proudly,

into your rightful place
of existence.


© Photo & Words Susan Marie

Like Lovers Do

On Soundcloud HERE

 

My hands shake
beneath this precious dawn,
not for myself,
but for the fate of humankind,
a land I do not belong,

for my eyes see the peaks of Himalayas
in the tips of pine trees,
where bluejays perch,
contemplating their next flight,
and the grass,
as Whitman pondered,
this precious gift, otherworldly. 

No, I do not belong down here,
yet I am grounded,
for my spirit is in flight
with the hawk,
scrying above,
screeching solitary,
as a murder of crows
attempt to take it down
from the most holy sky,
yet fail,
again and again.

I see this world like a child,
wondrous and wide-eyed,
an explorer of my own soul,
the new dawn shines upon my chin, upturned,
and the breeze,
she tussles my long mane,
like a lover,
splaying my legs,
ever so gently,
apart,
to the virgin skies.

I belong in the waves,
meeting the shore,
the crashing of tides
beneath the moon, full.

I exist in the limbs of trees 
and the sound of my feet
bearing down upon this sweet Earth.

My soul longs for completion,
for respite from the dying world,
for I exist in both,

in a land where my voice is unknown
to the language of humankind.


© Photo & Words Susan Marie

I Thank You

https://soundcloud.com/susan-marie/i-thank-you

You threw me away
like a second hand
used shoe
human being
with a heart

You threw me away
like tears
that fall from heaven
when clouds burst
volcanic
drenching us all
in divinity

But you,
you just threw me away

Like a rusted rim
rolling down the highway
some dusty remnant
of past
of lives lived
moments of
existence
now lying there
thirsty
beneath the ever so often
searing sun

Like waves that crash
endless upon the shore
you threw me up there too
and I became driftwood
floating
in uncharted territory

Like trees
that shed leaves
without emotion
or care
I fell
colorful and vibrant
Oh, so utterly alive
to the dirt and worms
to the dank silt of Earth

And you threw me there

Tossed me like a coin
flipped me upside my head
to my tail
over and over
and in your hands
I did not land
because you

You threw me away

And I landed not bent
broken or bruised
but safely within wings
of the most holy angels

Because you threw me away

I rose

And you

are left still staring
where a coin used to be
held lovingly within your palm
safe
beneath that searing sun
the rainclouds and thunder
floating endless upon your own waves
landing on other shores

And because you threw me away

My dear soul,
My sweet loved
lover
loving -

Because
you
threw
me
away

I
thank
you.


© Image and words Susan Marie