....original photography except where noted....


Saturday, August 06, 2011

a waltz of owls




we walk in an infinite world --

at any moment
a thousand
golden ghosts

swirl
around us....



summers ago,
in my father's home,
sifting through the legacies
of my ancestors....

making off with sepia portraits
long coveted
long denied....

tossing away sticky
space-age plastics
from the fifties....

marveling at the aesthetics
of a curious,
yellow-and-white
art-deco
cocktail shaker....

the longings
and the dreams
of my ancestors
swept over me --

awash this incapable form....



oh grandmothers....
mother....

what would you have me do?

grandfathers,
father,

old ones....

what is it you want from
my wild and bounded life?



i drove away,
my u-haul packed with
viscous treasures....

simultaneously
relief and exhaustion
made themselves known....

tears and i poured
together
over the
state line....

at that moment,
i swear --

i felt the spirits of my grandmothers
fly to join me....

their forms
streamed off of my shoulders
like wings

you have done the sacred work
daughter....

all is well --
yes, horrific!

but all is well....

work....
love....
play....

this is your sacred waltz....




i am happy the owls own the night --
their quiet announcements shake me....

they are my secret call to order....

to inventory my dreams....
and requisition grace....

and remember
that i dance

with golden ghosts....


____________________
©2011
beth anne boardman

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