Semele

I, Semele, made love to lightning,

I am the cup,

the vessel divine.

I know what mysteries are.

I have been made pure by their brilliance,

hallowed and hollowed,

aglow and growing,

the rod that grounds, the earth that accepts the seed of heaven.

He roils in my womb like a cosmic unfolding, the roaring

one, who will be savior,

shifter and shaker

He shows it to me in dreams

whispers tales to me.

Sweet child.  A mother should be the storyteller,

But this is no ordinary son.

And I, always impetuous, foolish princess,

I swallowed more sacred than I should

have, I could have

said no, but I did not

want to, I wanted it

all - god and glory.

They say my lover destroyed me, that I pleaded for proof.

but that is not my story.

Mortals born of mortals,

sometimes a hero or two.

But this bull child can be more,

In my bones, I know.

Simple enough - a sacrifice,

a mortal life for an immortal one, so it goes...

Death comes for all,

Yet I asked for this.

“Don’t hold back this time, it’s time

to burn. Tell him I chose this.

I am his first initiate.”

Play the drum

  play it for his fearless heart

     and I will go down dancing,

my frenzied ashes alight upon the wind

               to the sky I have loved

                   and the storm I’ve born.