You want to know
how to experience something
so moving
that it makes the bottom
of your heart shiver.
I can tell you.
First,
you need to enter
your heart’s dwelling,
throw open the shutters,
blow dust off the tables,
and notice her there,
red and black,
quivering,
gazing at you.
Then open the door,
step into life.
She may be fearful,
but she will trust you,
(she always does).
Walk with her along the snow-covered path,
let her run free in the woods
and remember her wild ways.
She’ll find you later up the path
wary, wondering how close she can get to you.
She will creep up slowly like the wild red fox
we saw on the trail on New Year’s day,
his red body bright
upon the shimmering snow.
She will be skittish and scurry away
like the fox did at the drop of your glove,
but invite her in
and wait.
Be very still as she pads
slowly home
and curls up in your chest,
the sweet scent of freedom still clinging to her.
Then turn around.
Face your life.
Don’t assume you know what will move you.
Plunge yourself into now.
Embrace the one you love
or the one you’ve longed to love
or the one who loves you,
the one you couldn’t see before.
Be naked and pure.
Be open and unafraid.
And you will feel her rise within,
pulsing,
and shivering
in ecstasy
from her bottomless depths.
[Photo credit Eli Umpierre, Laura D’Ambrosio]
