Fragments of Light Returning

photo courtesy of Kylie 'Ma Bower'

Fragments of Light Returning

Such a gentle and holy reclamation

of power and birthright,

so exquisitely feminine and encompassing,

allowing the deep grief to gently swell and fall

knowing the futility of drowning in the depths

of the horror of withheld love,

only humbly touching the edges

of that unfathomable pain

of lives lived in such shadow.

So gently we danced,

like fragments of light

upon the surface of the well,

summoning that which longed to move

from that place beneath,

from the deep waters.

As we summoned our strength

from the wellsprings of memory,

through  the dappled sunlight of ancient green

forests of the heart,

seeking the seer,

reclaiming the word,

reforming the container,

stronger now and more true.

A radiant gathering of pilgrims we were,

with brimming hearts and a myriad of colours

displayed in our feathers,

in the twinkling eye 
and the joy of our togetherness,

the sweetness of it a flame 
so artfully tended

by that Lady of the Swan,

she of the water and the word,

awakening.

We journeyed deep, deep into the past

and returned ancient and wise

and more free than we had been when we left,

we returned with animal companions,

a wild menagerie in our midst,

and with us the wise ones of our blood-lines,

all gathering, strong and open,

to aid the passage of the women and children
of the Magdalene Laundries.

With a raucous reverence we walked,

we drummed and we rattled,

we danced and we sang.
Beloved sister the beacon 
and shepherd of our song.

Our bejeweled feet thumping their love

through the foundations

to caress the bones that lay below.

Gathering into the heart of our mighty sound

the lost and the silent,

the trapped and forgotten ones,

the ululation of our feelingness

enlivening the air

awakening the unseen

and calling them to return

as we wind our way back now,

to the ancient river, sparkling.

The trees bending close to hear,

swaying and dancing with the glistening sunlight,

their celebration and resonance

with this timely passage of freedom.

Our voices still entwining,

weaving the warp and the weft of the basket

that would be their boat.

And by the waters edge,

our taproots entwining with the roots

of that vast and ancient tree of life

in the heart of the Earth, our Mother.

Silent now, deep in the medicine of this mystery,

the sole voice, so intimately sweet,

the song resounding from she

who is so strong to be so soft and still be heard.

And we feel them finding their own way now,
the one's that would come,

the Magdalenes, the forgotten ones,

home to the Waiting One’s,

the air alive with the subtle vibrations of their release,

the bindings falling free,

the light returning to that which has dwelt

so long in the shadow.

Wordless now and feeling the fine filaments of love,

entraining the universe,

as though there was suddenly more room

for sunlight and love,

more room for forgiveness

and fearless becoming.

Lucy Pierce © 2013

This poem is a reflection on an amazing day spent at the Abbottsford Convent with Julia Inglis at her workshop Swan Blessing: Femmina Unbound- Return of the Medicine Woman. I have abounding gratitude for the experience and can't recommend her work more highly. You can find out more about Julia's work at www.sacredfamiliar.com