One Poem by David Russell

 

Homage to the Priestess

a response to Lauren Scharhag's beautiful Priestess poem

 

Your braided hair a magnet 

Which made a mightier charge 

When braids were loosened, 

Loose hair of airy silkiness 

Deep echoed by your robes, 

A second layer of stole. 

Oh was it you 

Who catalysed the masses 

To raise that so palatial temple, 

Make fitting bowers and chambers 

For godly visitations 

Oh with the work complete, 

were you then bound  

And sheltered in that shrine 

Regaled by one-way visitation? 

Or did you opt to venture forth 

And match great warriors  

In trials of strength  

Your loosened tresses 

Pierced the earth’s thin crust; 

You took the plunge, 

Became the element 

Wherein you were immersed – 

The planet’s seas, rivers and rivulets, 

Boundary of fresh and saline. 

Would that I could decipher 

Your sacred knotted codes, 

Gain access to your truths. 

Would that I could span  

The gulfs of time 

For you to cross that bridge 

Your fleshly zest, exuberance 

Preserved, as hair and bone, 

Beacons of my reassurance.

David Russell