Hand to Earth by Rebecca Brewin

Hand to Earth by Rebecca Brewin, Index, Writing, Yoga, Retreats, Workshops, Info/Contact

EDGE IN THE NATURE OF THINGS III

Sometimes the ground on which we’ve stood for years —
That room, where objects we’ve known rest against its edges,
Containing us like signposts on a pilgrimage —
That place in nature, where spirit drops our feet
So much closer to the grass…
Sometimes the ground that has carried us
Requires us to lean, fall over even,
To trip over our step, step across a threshold,
Where the scent of longing can spill in.

Can you feel this in your body now?
Just the word ‘lean’ and ‘fall’
Evoking a kind of turning from left to right?
And all that you have touched, or been gifted —
The embroidered cushions, the ﬂowers,
The perfumes, the bottles and beings —
Take on a different transparent shape,
A kind of moving imbalance towards the window.

Shhh…sssshhhh
Is she coming or is she leaving?
Are things moving together or dancing apart?
Does it matter that these arms,
Receiving the bouquet with one hand,
Do not know what the other hand is doing?
And how is it that he who offers the gift,
Like a horse galloping through your red carpet,
Has no arms?

In this moving, questions fade.
In the vast space that surrounds us all,
The leaning trees, the expiring moss,
The ladders beyond the window,
What is left is that hovering kiss.
The lips that twirl together, through the pane.
The feel of velvety hairs, horse’s nuzzle, skin on skin.
The sound of your warm breath as our ears tilt
And hearing pours, riding, astride space and time.
And old feathers turn slowly, from black to red.