where have I gone
I wondered away
wandering (wonderer)
released from the clay
when held by a thought
(please don’t go)
and I couldn’t make sense
of the comings and goings
the night that imprisoned my soul
and took me so far
(returning me not)
to the place of permissions
conquest by rules
who would know
and why was I loved
I waited my breath
to remember

the way I was going
and smiles I would leave
reminders of where I had been
for reasons I came –
when the night was so sweet
(to hold me that way)
as days fell
to moments between

as maple to drip
honey so slow from the hive –
songs I’d forgotten
I knew how to sing
(the way I would feel)
while circling around
this living to love –
this fire to dance

I watched as the sparrows
took roost from the flame
and wondered (how long)
they would stay
(with the twilight)
even now from the still
who’s to say
how long I’ll be gone

might I wake
with a start
and a stirring inside
unashamed of the choices
I’d made
and where I was taken
to find me again
not the same (even better sometimes)

the pillow has faces
and stories to tell
might I count to the lines
on the back of these hands
somewhere I was mentioned
in going one time
but life kept me
falling away

softly to birth
mysteries tarry
born to another – I can’t recollect
where I was bound
when rose from the ash
with memory
as I was to be

scarred to the bone
and filled with that flame
the same one
(you remember that dream)
when my hair caught to fire
and the night
blew with smoke
the same as I was
when the first sparrow sang
and they wondered
(they wander)
how long it might be
til I’m home