I Am

Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash

I am made of prayers and secrets,

memories and stories told and retold.

I am made of rain and sun,

earth and phases of moonlight.

I am made of light and distant darkness,

galaxies and far off stars.

I am made of dust and chemistry,

particles and waves.

I am made of silence and no thing,

emptiness and yet…

I am

©2019 Joanne Young Elliott

Do Not Bury the Year too Soon

Photo by wenzlerdesign on pixabay

Do not bury the year too soon,

cover it with drifts of forgetting

never to see the light of day again.

It is not dead just yet. It breathes

life into me still with its sunrises

and sunsets attached to a year, a number

we have construed. Still it is and still I am

even though the sun now rises

lower and lower in the sky, and we rush

closer and closer to holy days and feasts.

Time becomes swift as the bird taking

the corner of the house so fast it

grazes the window, keeps flying undeterred

to its destination. It did not die,

will not be laid to rest this day.

©2019 Joanne Young Elliott

Intention Rising

Like the moon, full on the horizon,

my intentions rise, loom large,

light up the night full of uncertainty.

I adjust the lens, focus on my vision

and let all distractions fall away.

There is only this moment.

I mean to make it mine.

As the moon rises higher,

it seems to grow smaller.

But perspective is everything.

When all seems too far away,

I close my eyes and rise.

The night no longer seems dark.

It is the womb of dreams, of secrets

waiting to be whispered.

Possibility rises from within.

All is birthed by intention.

It’s time. I cast my spell to the wind.

©2019 Joanne Young Elliott

Everything and the Space Between

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

The space between wingbeats

carries the sparrow

through the air.

The space between notes

carries the music

to our ear.

The space between words

carries the meaning

to our heart.

The space between breaths

carries us

into the next.

The space between us

carries

possibility.

The space between now and forever

ceases to exist

in the present,

that moment before

the cosmos explodes

becoming everything

and the space between.

© 2019 Joanne Young Elliott

A Little Rain Must Fall

Photo by Issara Willenskomer

Rain on dry earth.

Scent released.

All that has waited

wafts into air.

Ground is pelted

prepared.

The dormant

begins to move.

Soil loosened

seed breaks open.

Life stirs

beneath the surface.

She will emerge

break through

this life. Rise

into the light.

©2019 Joanne Young Elliott