Beware

Here I am again after a break of over three months. I didn't realize it had been so long, but I have been resting from the kind of self-examination and self-awareness that a blog like mine requires. I realize now that all of the intense inner work I was doing finally caught up with me. I needed time to just "be" without explaining myself to anyone, including myself! Thus, my "summer break."

However, the wheel turns. Autumn is coming, school is starting, and I am waking up like a grouchy old bear coming out of her warm, cozy den because it is time. The other day I came across a poem that seemed to capture my current state of mind. It's called "Hera Alone, on the Mountain" by Patricia Monaghan from her book "Seasons of the Witch."

From this height I can see
everything. I watch the day
recede, I watch the light
fade into red, I watch
the brown leaves fall to earth.
It is time to strip to the bone.
Time to measure the worth
of each moment, to catch
the last ones left before night.
Soon enough red fades to gray.
Soon enough we cease to be.

Look there: An eagle rises
as the first star gleams.
Now listen: Far away
an owl's deep moaning song
cuts through the chilling air.
I am standing here alone.
Standing, head back, breasts bare
to the wind. I belong
to the earth now, the sky,
to myself and to my dreams,
with no masks left, no disguises.

You who would love me now
beware. I am all fire
and blood. I have no time
for those who cannot feel
the way through flesh to soul.
My life is now half-gone.
But each night left is whole.
Each day can now reveal
how life is most sublime
when fastened to desire.
From here, all time is now.