Wild Rabbit's Dream
Out of the labyrinthine
underworld warrens
came a lone wild rabbit.
It was dawn and a glow
on the farthest horizon
touched half-open eyes.
A blur of dew clung
to the grass glistening.
As so many water bells
this night moisture sang
of Moon and the vortex
in which she had slept.
As wild rabbit became
accustomed to new light
she saw mirrored in each
droplet faces of memory.
Like tears they shone
with love's compassion.
Wild rabbit's thoughts
were moist as dreams.
But by now Sun rose
flushing gold on the hills
burning off ancient mists
of many past sadnesses.
She watched the sky turn
into an upside-down ocean.
Wind blew swirling clouds
moving sacred mandalas
across the open blue face
of a smiling girl child.
The child sang with joy
a good morning song that
ruffled wild rabbit's fur.
Her bright nose twitching
she tapped her back foot
and leapt out into the day.
(by Sara Firman, aka Sulis, 2007)
Fire in the East
though the yellow bird
died the sun still rises
in the east and the India
of my dreams wreathed
with marigolds is the body
of a moon goddess losing
her blue-blind shoe to
dogged innocence and old
gods seeding their progeny
in the red wars of proud lions
a sure resurrection of winged
dreams flying over cold waters
carrying rain clouds to dry soil
planted with babies or beans
fire in the east is the true gift
(by Sara Firman aka Sulis, 2008)
My mother notes that I was due on July 4 and born on July 14, 1959 in London, spanning America's Independence Day and the French Revolution's Bastille Day. A rebel perhaps but a reticent one - apparently I resisted that birth and have resisted a few other strong but unavoidable calls. When I was looking for two poems that might reflect the watershed birthday I am celebrating today, the ones above stood out. They were actually written in 2007 and 2008, respectively, but they were looking forward to the morning of something hopeful.It's curious that they follow two posts about my father since he is linked with both of these too. He read Watership Down to my siblings and me on a memorable holiday in New Zealand - I specifically remember staying in a hot springs motel at Rotorua for one reading.Both poems were also inspired by my recent explorations of astrology as a path to self-understanding, under the tutelage of my new partner Joe Landwehr with whom I will spend this birthday and to whom I owe more than I can say. Birthdays are Sun times: I have Sun in Cancer, Leo rising, and Moon in Scorpio*.
Here is a personal astropoetic image for that watery rising sun: the sun's warmth lifting up billions of tiny water droplets to become soft humidity in the air which then moves further up to gather together as clouds in the atmosphere above. Then rain.
Another image is of a sunrise over the ocean, as in the Brazilian film set in Rio de Janeiro 'Black Orpheus' when two little boys take solace and find renewed hope in their own ability to draw the sun up by playing the song dead Orpheus taught them.
In a sense, perhaps I too am drawing up my Sun by playing the song that my losses have taught me, including the loss of my Leo-born father (Jupiter trine Sun in my natal chart). I now need to break away from family psyche and honor that wonderful legacy at the same time. To be in balance, my Sun requires me to move water energy (particularly emotional and creative energy) outward into some form of expression. This is a natural part of who I am and something I have struggled with through both denial and shame. No longer.
An intriguing dream reminded me that yoga is one form of self-expression that activates my Sun; there is a Sun-line going through India on my astrocartography map. Just after my father died I went to India for several weeks to study with BKS Iyengar. The second poem hints at this yogic connection. Writing has been another form of expression. Following my Moon and its companion Neptune, it calls for a form of Wyrd (runic) Magic through which what I write solidifies and becomes the truth I must live. To the extent that I am bound by the past, the ambivalence of these magical planets haunts me. These two poems, tell of my Sun and Moon and the ever-present influence of Water. They draw me up from the underworld of past pain where I have been for the last few years. They call me to the frontier of the half-century of my life. They ask me to sing another song of hope. This is my birthday wish. * for astrology folk Sun in 12th, Moon in 3rd.See also this link on my aquatic bodywork website about yoga: The judicious use of natural forces
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