Feminine Mask

A psychological nightmare

taking back love

watching dates as they peel

one by one out of existence

yesterday gone

today gone

tomorrow may as well be gone.

Chasing ghosts

the city reeking

of memories

so many memories

this darkness is not only dark

this captivating

loving

ensnaring

horror scene

playing like an old movie reel,

aged with burn marks on the corners.

Over and over again;

that ardent lie,

feverishly ransacking any hope of discontent;

“This is all you will ever be.”

-- Tayor Wade

When mountains touched celestial clouds

and crystal water defined frontiers

the heavens walked on earth

until men burned the face of the Moon.

Escaping from flames she flew

in the form of an eagle

seeking safety in the sky

hiding her scars.

In the dark firmament

the Moon and her bright children

play hide and seek

while the sun

a wingless bird

driven by red sulphur

is consumed by desire.

Under clear indigo

the Moon bathes in silver waters

reflecting her vanquished past:

love sacrificed for power

sharing replaced by conquering

nurturing swallowed by indulgence

community burned by intolerance

compassion blinded by indifference.

A mercury river flows unyielding

a mirror to her scars.

Tattoos tagging the Moon

etch our umbilical scar

a lunar eclipse arousing

deep feminine threads

connecting our personal waxing

with her changing tides

giving birth to fresh rain

beating harmony hearts

male and female

sun and moon

awakening within.



-- Maria Elena B. Mahler

We all know pain

how to suffer

scrutinize our difficulties

lash out at those at hand

someone to shoulder the blame

project what we don’t like inside

onto others outside

afraid to rectify, sympathize

reach out, hand out

scrape the rust

shine some love

free our hearts

transmute lead to gold

embrace our neighbor.

it’s the story we hold

that defines us –

not the propaganda

that keeps us in fear.

It’s the story learned through time

how we broke the edges

of our self-descriptions

reclaimed our inheritance

the mystery of reverence

the seamless flow.

It’s the story of transformation

deeply personal

seriously global

how the feminine took back

the mask of connection

and led us to redemption.

-- Stephen Linsteadt