MARRY YOURSELF TO THE MIRROR
for Sarah Kerr

A dream has dreamed you all your life –
Carried you in its yellow beak and talons.
Tracked you through snowdrifts, deserts, and streams.
Held you against its thick black fur.
Warmed you in dappled clutches
And in the hollows of ancient oak.
Braided and bathed you
With fire and water, earth and air
Season after season.

Stitched you in and out of time.
Sang your name to the Seven Sisters.
Filled your belly with beets, cabbage and kale.
Dressed your wounds with aloe and clay.
Combed your hair with silver.
Fanned your brilliance with sage, feather and prayer.
Spawned you in rivers where the salmon runs.   
And left you alone in silence to tinker with the balance.

Gave you a glossary and a grammar
That pours through you like sand through an hour glass
That you ply with faith and gratitude
Into curls, swirls and florals
Bead, clay and leather
Wool, velvet and cotton
Wood, wire, and metal.
Until tears stream down your face
And your heart is broken open
By the mystery and the beauty
Your hands have fervently delivered.

This dream has mothered you
Mentored you, suckled you
On story and symbol
Through the phases of the moon and sun
Has shaken and danced you
Rattled and hummed you
For decades, for centuries, forever.

But today she comes to you like a bride
And bends toward your breathing with her breath
And whispers into the labyrinth and ocean of your ear
A message you hear like counsel form a bone
That you will spend the rest of your days deciphering:

Marry yourself to the mirror.
It’s time to spin the wheel.
Live along the bias as singer, weaver, drum.
Do the next thing and only what must be done -
Now and now and now.
There is nothing more to know.