Totem

I fed the wolf my beating heart
And each throb was his last,
And he was mine and I was his
Since first the die was cast~

And with each tender, crimson gnaw
He of my heart, And I, his paw
We fell into the driving snow
And stayed as one within the thaw~

And when we dissolved and became the river,
Drifting now and then, forever
I wore his pelt as a living cloak
As he took my arms about his throat~

He of gray and I, of flame
We’ve become the others name
Rising finally from ash and bone
Two breaths becoming one alone~

Two souls thrive, my wolf and i
In one element, two survive
Two songs that are sung by one
To consecrate what we’ve become~

 

Author’s Note:  My wolf here could be translated as a familiar, a totem, a spirit guide…. he is many things because in the grand scheme of things, to me, he represents the magic of ‘becoming’. I used the snow, the thawing and then the ultimate flowing of these into the river, as symbolism for the blood that flows through our veins…..thus the coming together of elements to become one.

Some folks read me and think I’m all about the mystical- I think I’m more about the experience. We humans carry with us many thoughts, beliefs, languages, skin colours… but beneath all the trappings that our current vessels hold, we’re very much the same…. We come from the same cell, the same drop of blood, the same roots from the same tree. And isn’t that the true miracle?

I love the rhythm of language- and so I wanted this piece to become a dance for the reader. A dance… a spell… a prayer.