The Dance of Life

The weather turns warmer, rushing ever towards its Mother

The gentle stream of late summer is now a torrent, filled and fulfilling; turning, twisting the spring moves on in

the never ending Dance of Life

Rushing toward the Summer’s embrace, My soul, too, is a torrent

Of feelings, awakenings, expectations and desires reaching with growing strength towards the warmth of the sun at its zenith

My body wants to move and sway, but my mind is not sure it wants to DANCE

Young abound in cities and woodlands;

Meadows and marshes are filled with life

On a warm night, under the trees, couples

Gaze at the stars and, if they are lucky,

Hear the celestial music of the spheres

In hollows and hidden places, the faeries emerge from their hiding to dance in the light of the summer moon

Old as time and young forever, these spirits

of freedom know the steps to the Dance of Life

The young King frolics in the forest, growing in strength and wisdom, for this is truly his time

Midsummer, its enchantment reaches for our souls.

Will we as a race again hear its call?

Or will we, as we have for too many years, drown out its message with selfish, disenchanting distractions encroaching ourselves evermore into the realm of enchantment in a vain attempt to analyze, categorize, and claim it as our own.

Foolish, fooling race that we are

We stand at the pinnacle of technological advancements

Ready to step off the edge onto new heights

But our misunderstandings of our own magical selves

Are destined to throw us down unless we can reclaim

That enchantment to which we were born and have a birthright

But which the World Culture has taught us was invalid.

Look to the past, Oh Children of the Garden

Look to the cultures that still honor the senses and earth

Look to the few among us who have learned to live

A truly Enchanted and magic-filled life.

Be not dismayed by my word of "magic", for it is not in the

Worldly sense of tricks and illusions that I use it

But, instead, I use it as I would "mystery" and "wonder".

All the world is magic to a child

And as a child must we again become. All of us.

If we are, once more, and at last, going to regain a

Sense of the enchantment this earth, this life has to offer

And, in doing so, truly be able to dance again

The Midsummer Dance of Life.

***

author bio:

Mariposa is a UU Pagan of 8 years duration. She spends much of her time reading, playing Celitc harp, and writing poetry. She calls her method of writing "Muse-inspired", as she writes the poem complete and whole at one sitting with, usually, only very minor changes. Also, if she gets "inspired" she must right down the poem at once or she "loses it". Mariposa currently holds the Office of Spirit for the Church of the Sacred Circle in Salt Lake City, and is also clergyperson of that pagan church. She hopes to get training to become a volunteer for the "No One Dies Alone" hospice program that sits with dying patients when family and friends are not available.