as sure as the sun meets my gaze
footfalls of the Goddess
are felt through this forest bed
beating upward past mundane transcending material

we bury our dead and their essence
covering them with muddied obscurity
averting our eyes from magic laid bare
how to listen to airy lullabies of mother earth
when our soulfire is stifled

as certain as the moon guides my hand
eternal energy caresses my cheek
calling my fractured attention
to winds of truth hiding
in oak bark
whispers deafened by digital waves

there is a reason the sage speaks with ghosts
finding solace in flames

[Giovanna Barham is a poet from Bethesda, Maryland, whose works seek to ascertain magic, mystery, and natural mayhem. Her poems have appeared in Avalon at Shenandoah University and Of Rust and Glass.]