"Rhythm" - a poem

[Technowitch]

Just a little something I wrote a few years back... Enjoy.

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Rhythm

The god-drums have started again, and
I am compelled
To dance

Unwilling, legs heave me upright
Shuffle one foot in front of the other
In the dust

Clothing falls away
Until I am covered with nothing
But sweat

The curtain of my hair
Suddenly long and dark
Not mine

I sway into the circle
Of painted men and women
Faces hidden behind carved masks

Beside the bonfire
Which roars with the voice of Bear
My hips turn
Breasts swing

A wind from Eagle's wings
My hair flies back
I crouch and rise
Bend and leap

To the laughter of Otter
My arms float up
Fingers trace geometric patterns in the air
Trailing light that lingers

The tempo of the drumming increases
Pulling me along
I move faster
Circling the fire
Limbs quivering

Still, I dance
For I can do
Nothing else

Ever faster we move
The drums and I
Finding new patterns
Stomp, step, jump, pause

And then

And then
The drumming stops

I stop

I thrust my bare arms into the bonfire
Up to the elbows
Gather red-hot coals to me
Suckle them as my children

I show the coals to the drummers
And
Fling them into the sky

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(c) Rebecca Morn, 2005