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


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

the empty bowl



one night
i sat, it seemed,
at the bottom of
a great empty bowl….

the ground spread flatly
away from me….

the vast deep
translucent lavender sky
melted backwards
into space
above me….

all around me
a great hollowness
rose up to meet infinity….

the birds held their breath
the breeze settled

even my thoughts
quietly filed out

to gaze blankly, instead,
at that sunset-infused expanse….

between me and the next star:
nothing….



the quiet deepened,
the sky darkened slowly….

space unveiled itself
before my watching eyes….

i sat
awe-touched

witnessing
this great celestial
rolling and turning --

from darkness
back to darkness --

an unstoppable cycle
linking observers
across the eons --

i sensed
a silent fertility
held by the dark….



against this great
unfolding dance,

the glow
of firestones arose….

solid black hills revealed
their graceful upwelling curves
in silhouette….

trees and nightbirds
issued soft murmurings, rustlings,
quiet calls –-

wet earth exhaled
a freshly greened scent --

the empty bowl
rapidly filled

with
mystery
upon mystery….



behind me
i heard a voice say:

today i held the eagle feather
up to the sky….

i showed it to the east,
to the west,
the north
and the south…..


the voice faded,
and as the firelight
played,
(a tiny star)

i gave thanks

for eagle feathers
for sky
and for the
empty
fertile
dark….

__
________
©2011
Beth Anne Boardman