Sacred Circle

By Lupe Carlos III

I am a cherished child
Chasing lazy grasshoppers in a wild meadow 
Under the dazzling turquoise sky

My mind is a library lined with hundreds of rows and thousands of books
Corridors leading to corridors, towering with shelves, stacked with manuscripts
There’s even a section devoted to absurdity
 
My heart is an endless sea of liquid sapphire held in place by joy
Where children bathe on crystal shores warmed by an amber moon  
 
My soul is a wisp of a cloud with the aroma of affection
Casting shadows on those who labor under the midday sun
 
My body is an ancient temple radiating the power of my people
With the gentleness of the prayers that burn within
 
My touch is the mark made by a dandelion seed as it lights on healing waters
Where earthen salts and steeped lavender fill an alabaster tub   

I laugh 
Oh, how I laugh, at life as it parades by
Dressed in an impossible paradox

I am the culmination of my ancestor’s hopes
I am the foundation of my children’s dreams
I am loved

I know this all to be true
Because you spoke it into being
In a language, you knew I did not yet understand


You appeared to me when I was lost
An angel with wings of onyx daggers
Slashing the rain and wounding the night

I don’t know why I followed you into the darkness
Where the sun in weathered copper
And stars hurt like grit in my eyes


We traveled for years through twilight dreams 
Where time is a cruel prank
And memories haunt dark corners in filthy rooms

We followed the scattered pieces of my soul back to the beginning
Collecting each, you wove me together with string, twigs, downy gray feathers
And trashy treasures you gathered from your secret places
 
Along the banks of exhaustion, a graceful glow called us to the sacred circle
I stepped to the center of the silent flames
I raised my hands and yelled at the top of my thoughts
I am here, I’m alive


Again, and again
I am here, I’m alive
I yelled until my mind was hoarse

I yelled until I believed it

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