this time, i listen – beth anne boardman

by beth anne boardman

when raven calls

my heart thrills
as if to a lover’s –

his throaty voice
floats across the silence,

seems a private note
between us….

•

memory transports me
to the lip of
an echoing red stone canyon
in the sheer predawn….

or the edge of a hopi mesa
preceremony….

then
raven’s voice seemed to
summon the dancers –
cue the singers
with their rattles and bells….

what glorious magic
has unfolded for me over the years,
when i took raven’s cue
to pause and listen….

•

last year
raven called me
to an assignation
with solitude….

i ran from him –

oh i was in such a hurry to live….

this time
i listen….

this time, raven,
your call reminds me

how intimately i know
the curves of your black feathers
the firmness of your claws….

i remember the
power of solitude –

i step into it
as naturally as i step into
my garments, of a morning…..

its velvet swirl
encircles me

oh, i know these steps
this compelling, dangerous dance….

•

ah, but i remember
raven’s sacred tricks!

i feel him laughing when i sink
into the illusion of aloneness….

when actually,
the graces of the universe
dance around me….

atoms riot within me….

oh i,
who feel so proficient
in this solitary walk,

am the center of a circle
of generous beings
clamoring for my notice

night and day….

from the cells living within me
to the spiders in my garden,

to the breadth of the spirit world
that holds me…..

•

raven calls:

throw off your cloak of aloneness!

know your pockets are filled
with the unimaginable riches
of the universe….

your very touch teems
with beings…..

your every ragged breath embraced….

•

oh love

this time
i respond

with upwelling joy….