I am because you are

I never knew you as a fish nor a fern, never as fig nor fox.

I wish I’d known you as the elm before the blight, pre-1922.

I can see you now, tall and buxom, your vibrant June crown.

I never knew you as a Bandersnatch1 nor banshee, never as

basilisk2 nor bigfoot. It’s good we never met as dragons, ruby

scaled and fuming, a fountain of sparks to bring us breathless.

I never knew you as gesture nor high five, never as stomp dance

nor sigh. I did mistake you once for a moan cast low across the

deadfall, tide of gloaming saturated with small secrets.

I never knew you as disappointment nor cartwheel,

as keening nor balloon bouquet. I heard you hum the tune

on my tongue; simple notes to drift with a cold, riffled stream.

I never knew you as the word of God nor fable, fairy tale or myth. I’ve learned to hold your gaze, ubuntu3, beside a psalm of blood and spirit, to merge our best moments. In glory, the you I know.

_____________________________________________________________

1 – from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

2 – serpent like creature with a deadly gaze

3- ancient African phase meaning I am who I am because of who we all are

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What the Muses Leave Behind

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