Poetry for choreography.
House of Makers
A poem written for the stage, performed in collaboration with dancers and musicians.
The Planets in Love
In the beginning
the sun rose
to nothing and
no one in particular
Unseen
was no state to be in
with all that light
to share
Over time
gravity oozed
across the spirit worldin search of
suitable company.
This is how she found me
swirling, unfurling
turning corners of the cosmos,
reserved for the unbound
Like the sudden rush
of the rapture
I disappeared,
I reappeared, and felt heat
I felt heat
igniting the middle
of my sprawling consciousness.
and then
a lunging inward,
towards a boiling core
A drawing in
a material assembly
This is how she made me
Summoned,
I sailed across
The universe,
as if by invisible thread
taking my place
in the solar system
settling
not too close
not too far, just right
I felt bright,
like flashes of light
on a rippling lake
Looking around
I was not alone
I had brothers,
and they had waters
like me
flowing free
how lucky to be
in perfect proximity
to life giving forces
In greeting
long sunny fingertips
brushed my surface
and it cracked
into a million smiles
saying
kin
skin of my skin
a reflection of the soul within
“Kin, skin of my skin
A reflection of the soul within”
“This is how it will feel”
someone whispers
and I know I’m dreaming.
children’s voices
count back from ten
I’m lured in
following the sound
of ten
nine, eight...
but it’s getting late
and I should go home
I head for the gate
but don’t get very far
because suddenly
there you are.
I see your smile
for the first time,
a flash of lightning
through parting clouds
and I remember you
Sun on your surface
a planet of waters, like me.
An invisible thread
tugs the corners
of my mouth upwards
to the sound of
cresting waves
In the playground
the children scatter
as the blindfolded seeker
reaches three,
two, one...
you grab my hand
and we run
across the field
like comets in the night sky,
together we fly
behind a garden wall
our eyes twinkling at each other
like streetlights at twilight
saying
kin,
How long has it been?
a reflection of the soul within
“This is how it will feel,
someone whispers and I know I’m dreaming”
Neptune engulfs me
causing flowers to drip
from my chin
fallen petals pool in caves
this is a love that comes in waves
Warm winds whip
our blooming bodies
into each other’s orbit
I find you, I find myself in you,
and you yield to me, with ease
like mist over morning seas
calm over chaos that misbehaves
this is a love
that comes
in waves
we dance
a chemistry of kindred climates
weaving in and out
we soar
a constellation of two
sister suns, surging
cresting, breaking through
the sound of splintering glass
and I absorb you,
I am you,
I swallow you whole
Spewed out from the deep
we sway in a cosmic current
back and forth, to and fro
you ebb, and I no longer know
How to uncross your borders
I gravitate towards you
again and again
your force, it pulls me in
we collide
and separate on impact
yet again,
you pull me in
kin,
exposed to solar wind,
a reflection of the soul within.
In light years to come
you’ll pull me in again
a ritual reunion
in aching communion
“I close my eyes
cosmic dust settling on my eyelids”
“This is how it will feel”
I close my eyes
cosmic dust settling
on my eyelids
drifting alone
a soaring stone
sweeping the cusp
of heaven
Corners of the cosmos
reserved for the unbound
swing open their gates
and I spread passed them
a sovereign being
detached from the pull
of gravitational forces
Iron
Carbon
Nitrogen
Oxygen
the building blocks
of every planet’s wildest dreams, and all I am
is here
kin
a candidate for chaos
relative
to other celestial bodies.
kin,
a conscious thing
a reflection of a soul
taking it all in.
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