Wheel of the Year -- a poem

Wheel of the Year

the goddess sleeps,
beneath the frozen earth--
in the dark womb,
she lays, sleeping--
a-newing--
beneath the ice--
melts--and cracks--
trickles down
to her sleeping face--
she wakes! oh, she wakes!
fair and smooth of face--
a maiden is she--
she crawls from the dark womb--
to the bright sunlight--
the wind in her hair--
budding oak leaves
unfurls under the gentle sun--
she meets a fair youth--
a sweet, comely youth--
his soul she knows
from lives before--
he kneels before her--
he swears fealty--
in her name, he champions,
in her right, he reigns,
king of summer,
king of the land--
king of the day--
together they join
in the great rite--
sow the seeds into the fertile land--
reap the first harvest
of their love--
the king he shines high above--
above the the wind-swept grasses--
he reigns supreme--
in perfect balance,
the scale weighs--
day and night--
the children
laugh and dance
'round the raging bon-fire--
they leap and dance--
and touch the oak leaves
golden--
reap the final harvest--
the king lays dying--
under the oak tree--
his lifeblood seeping...
to the earth its returning...
replinishing...seeding...
his love, she kneels by his side,
she kisses his cold brow goodbye--
his eyes--they speak his pain--
of his love--
of his silent farewell--
a soft, last breath--
the king sails away
into the darkness of the night
to the isle of paradise--
under the midnight moon,
under the oak tree,
she stands,
tears wet upon her cheeks,
the blood red leaves
falling to her feet--
she bids her love farewell--
he reigns now--
king of the winter--
king of the dead--
king of the night--
she weeps now
for her lover lost--
her hands over the seed in her womb--
she stares beyond--
closes her eyes
to the pain she could not bear--
the pain deep inside--
slowing spiraling--
life grows within--
as death creeps to the land--
frozen, numb--
snow layer thick--
naked branches stab the sky,
alone--
she stares
into the moonless night sky--
she catches her breath
as she sees
a streak of light!
a soul returning....
returning--
to her womb--
a divine child
who looks at her
with his father's eyes--
the goddess--
her face with lines--
her hair stark white--
she teaches him
the mysteries of life--
twelve days pass--
a day for a year--
on the twelfth night--
to him,
she gives him
his names and his tools--
to the sunset he rides
to his fortune he seeks--
and then--
she sleeps...
under the frozen land,
in the dark womb,
she sleeps...
she sleeps...
the wheel of the year turns
once more....