Poem for May Day

(Reflection upon the Cosmic Hieros Gamos)

I.

Spirit swells within the heart of All
In Love full-filled to bursting bliss.
Buds extrude from their encasements,
Blooms extend, unfold within the light
In hues designed in paradise.

In paradise the two are one,
And all are one --
The bud, the blossom,
The blowsy, drooping bloom that has achieved
The perfect moment
And moves on,
And, yes, the bare bough, scarce remembering
Florid effulgence of the spring.

All time, all meaning, all the cosmos,
Rapt, embraced within the Being of the One -
Flame from the heart of every atom leaps
In glad response.
Cauldron, womb, dark vessel of origin,
Receives the spark and gives return
In radiant joy.

From the communion of the One with all,
Come the many,
Revivified.

II.

And shall we go a-maying, and breathe the dawn
Infused with blossoms’ scent,
Heavy, moist in dewy morning?
Shall we bring home petals creamy, soft,
Fragrant as the skin of the young May Queen,
She who is poised in that poignant moment
Between dawn and day.
Shall we see the sacred dance done,
And celebrate the holy coupling?
Shall we stoke the fires,
And circle in the light?

III.

There is eternal May in me,
The snows of winter crown me
Yet I am She who dances in the dawning
And gives virgin birth to the Holy Child.
As the wheel of the year turns,
As the hours of day make their rounds,
I move
From maid to matron and to crone
Yet I am One.
At brimming morning, blazing noon,
And at the dark end of the cycle
I dance within the circle of Cosmos
Yet within me, All is held.

IV.
I am the Consort of the Queen
No less than She
I hold the scepter of enthroned Divinity.
I thrust and burst and cry with singular eye
The word of my Being
Enfolded and embraced by Her.
And we are One.