(Remembering bell hooks, 25 September 1952 – 15
December 2021)
Hope is being born
this night with all life
here in the skin thin of time’s veil
the door between pasts and now is open
come language this land name it ‘Welcome’
mend and tune the frayed edges of ebb and earth
repair this rivening of shore and ocean
be the thunder and upending storm
be before the rain and after it
be subversive kindness and burst sun upon us
little sister you are here returned and new
to the dawn as she sheds her first ochre tear
come while sapphire cloaks the earth un-wakened
while the world remains still within its own shadows
as the moon’s blade cleaves darkness
silvered dust loiters at this cruck-cradled arm
a servant curved to the grace of your sleep
blessed numb by lightsome burden
pulse tethered to your every breath
always mouth for mouth I kiss kin to your ears
release the raven to call us home
its wings fly fugitive into the wind
the wild-heart dove coos covenant
unfurled from feathered lips
make my heart surrender refuge
be love be love be love beloved
Be love be love be love beloved
make my heart surrender refuge
unfurled from feathered lips
the wild-heart dove coos covenant
it wings fly fugitive into the wind
release the raven to call us ‘home’ always
always, pulse tethered to your every breath
blessed numb by lightsome burden
a servant curved to the grace of your sleep
silvered dust loiters at this cruck-cradled arm
as the moon’s blade cleaves the darkness
the world remains still within its own shadows
come while sapphire cloaks this earth, un-wakened
to the dawn
as she sheds her first ochre tear
little sister you are here returned and new
be subversive kindness and burst sun upon us
be before the rain and after it
be the thunder and upending storm
repair this rivening of shore and ocean
mend and tune the frayed edges of ebb and earth
come language this land name it ‘Welcome’
the door between pasts and now is open
here in the skin thin of time’s veil
this night with all life
hope is being born
Cáit O’Neill McCullagh is a straying ethnologist and archaeologist in the Scottish Highlands. She started becoming a poet in December 2020, and since then her poems have appeared in Northwords Now, Spilling Cocoa over Martin Amis, Drawn to the Light, Bella Caledonia, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, and The Banyan Review. Cáit tweets at @kittyjmac.
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