when I tell you I’m a child of Nyx
I’m saying that the Night birthed me into being
She wove me out of the void into a blessed shadow
I’m no sparkling star
no bright and burning ball of fire
instead
I’m the breathless space between celestial bodies
the overlooked crowd of hidden ones
the shapeless darkness that cradles
all this delicate life you have
know it to be fact
the children of the Night came into being
long before there were bodies to inhabit
we will still be here
long after the void swallows all the bodies back
into nothingness again
Tag: Witchcraft
genre: books related to New Age topics like astrology, tarot, witchcraft, paganism, mythology, philosophy, and other common metaphysics categories
Orion [poem]
I see Orion in the night sky and I think
this is lucky
that the sky is clear
and the pollution of the city lights can’t reach me here
and this
this is my sign
I see Orion in the night sky
and I think about coming home
the moments I found myself scattered around
my own Milky Way
I think about the long hunt
for that elusive beast known as Happiness
the trail lost and found
and lost again
until finally
this
I see Orion in the night sky
and I think about life
the constellation of events that made me who I am
that led me to this
all of this
luck is the brightest star on Orion’s belt
shining just for me
accidental sin eater [poem]
there were times
I couldn’t stand myself for being
less than
for failing at being lover
being woman
being mother
being friend
I played accidental sin eater
to a circle of unrepentant sinners
let their demons inside this heavy heart
and let myself be made unholy in their image
and I just
felt like each breath was stolen
from someone better worth that gulp of air
but you
you made me new
purified my hurt and gave me absolution
dragged me up from my bloody knees
and made my prayers less empty
you played god
with two steady hands and
the quiet grace that demanded I keep breathing
you convinced me I deserved to live
so thank you
Hades does not want your suicide [poem]
put down the shaking pill bottle
the sharpened blade
the loaded gun
I don’t need you here yet child
your willingness to join me is an unwanted offering
I do not want this sacrifice of young flesh
harvested before its time
I have never asked
for the blood of the living to feed the dead
I will never ask for you to lay your body
across my altar like a feast
for the ghouls haunting your heavy heart
I prefer you breathing
crying and screaming or numb and silent
but always breathing
you will stand before me when your day comes to pass
not a second sooner
do not try to cut in line to get here
I do not want you yet
hard won gifts from the dead [poem]
I’ve always had this weird relationship with the dead
one where I stand here
reaching back in time with my gratitude
sometimes wishing I could speak with them in person
for example
the first man to guide me along my spiritual path
died as I was just learning how to read
his books would come to me
in those twilight years between childhood
and adulthood
opening my eyes to the wonders of nature and magic
my grandpa died and taught me a lesson too
the news of his passing
a message passed across the ocean to me
I cried and promised him that
I’d end the strained silence between my dad and me
before it was too late
and then there was a miscarriage
an unexpected loss that scooped out a part of me
and made me face the lies I told myself
about motherhood and femininity
and my own dreams
later I cried for the girls who killed themselves
after violent hands took from their bodies
and the bullying outweighed their will to keep on living
they taught me how to weigh my own words
against the pain they may cause
to remember their power to hurt as well as to heal
and contrary to my naive heart’s belief
you really can’t save everyone
the dead are beyond this place
their souls somewhere only death can take you
but the lessons they’ve given me are hard won gifts
I can only repay by living
when I’m dead and gone [poem]
when I’m dead and gone
I want to be deconstructed
pulled into a million tiny pieces
I want my things given out like Halloween candy
to friends and family
and donation bins
I want my body parts to fix whatever they can
add a few more years to someone else’s clock
the rest of my body a pyre
turned into easily scattered ashes
in my deepest dreams there is no headstone
only fading memories
I want my existence to dissolve like salt in water
a perfect solution to dying
because death is the last step in a cycle that
keeps repeating
keeps repeating
birth and life and death and rebirth
it just
keeps repeating
and this round just happens to be over
it’s okay to let me go
I’ll be back
Mjolnir [poem]
you are sitting in the crater
made by your crash landing here not so long ago
you feel lost
like you’re missing something important
but please stay put
when the strangers come
wrapping their hands around you
and trying to take
they are not worthy
you
are beyond their small egos and smaller dreams
do not move
you are a powerful treasure
forged in the heart of a dying star
awe inspiring myth and magic
no living being has the right to you
unless they’ve earned it
proved their worthiness to be on par
with the gods themselves
you are stormbringer and lightning queen in one
a heavy burden for anyone to hold
let he who is worthy try his hand at loving you
if he dare
thermodynamic equilibrium [poem]
someone once described the perfect couple
as opposites
one person with cold hands
the other warm
in holding hands they reach
thermodynamic equilibrium
just a couple big words for balance
really
the idea made me smile
because I’ve always been a natural hot spring
regardless of the weather around me
always warmer than people I touch
I was forged rather than born
a creature of molten intellect and the slow burn
to be balanced I guess I need
a snow angel or
a frost giant
someone full of frozen fractals and icy calm
I want chilled fingers against my overheated neck
the kind of contrast that leaves both of us
gasping
screw equilibrium
I just want to feel a shock
a reminder that I’m still here
smoldering
Ares on a mission [poem]
Father wasn’t known for his dabbling
unlike Zeus he’d long known
how to avoid planting his seed in fertile fields
his conquests were purposeful excursions
his targets
only the worthy specimen
a warrior woman with fire in her blood and
a keen desire to grab life with both hands
he found my mother at a shooting range
her hair clipped back with militant precision
as she hit her mark
again and
again
it was lust at first sight
they shared a tumble in a tent somewhere
searing a brand of life into her unsuspecting womb
a handful of photos nine months later
were proof enough
he called it mission accomplished
he left his modern day Amazon to handle
the raising of his new little warrior
willing or not
she’d carry on his legacy
of the heated thrill of a good fight and
the desire to win it
holy ground [poem]
I made love to a god once
stretched out beneath his hands
an altar of incense smoke and fresh flowers
I breathed his name as an invocation
called his body into my body
and made to worship him
like any good priestess would
we moved together
the sacred dance of instinct and life and pleasure
and I became blessed
became an initiate of his mysteries
became a new woman at his touch
this temple has long been consecrated
this body made holy ground
hello [poem]
you gotta put the hell in hello
to be mine
love
because the only way I’ll trust you
is if you’re an honest liar
the kind of demon who makes deals where
you get exactly what you asked for
it’s your fault if you ask for the right thing
in the wrong way
I need a damned soul with sin stained hands
to join me in this
constant parade of fuck it
someone who’s down with just riding the chaos
until it crashes
you dark and twisty thing
you are the wicked grin before the game begins
and me
I’m ready to play
wild belief [poem]
I believe in magic
I believe in the rush of power
after a full moon ritual and
the tingling of hands clasping hands in celebration
I believe in karma
I believe in accepting the fact that
I’m obviously paying for lessons I didn’t learn
the first time around
I believe in happy endings
I believe in the warmth of coming home
to someone who holds your heart
sacred in their hands
I believe in second chances
I believe in the opportunity for you to try again
to make amends for your mistakes
I believe in ghosts
I believe in the way specters of my past haunt me
dripping ectoplasm down my spine
until I shiver from their eerie memory
I believe in prayer
I believe in the feeling of hope that lifts you up
when a prayer is finally answered
I believe in you
I believe in the mask
and the person hiding behind it
seeing them both
with eyes so open to the idea of believing again
I am always full of wild belief
an unremarkable life [poem]
I believe in the pleasure of living an unremarkable life
the comfort in being
a familiar face to small town people
but a stranger to the masses
there’s a tender ache in remaining quietly present
in everyone else’s moment
willing yourself invisible or at least a bit blurred
when people talk about
what they want to do with their lives
so few embrace this humble act
of simply existing day to day
we’re taught from a young age that
we’re the main characters of our own stories
it’s hard to accept
the idea of being a background character instead
but god
if you paid attention
you’d know just how relaxing it is to have no plot
no story arch to fulfill
I get to experience each day as
a lazy summer afternoon with no scheduled plans
my choices are insignificant ripples
my voice is just a quiet whisper
among the cacophony of shouted words
my shoulders hold up only my own
weighted expectations
not the world
I’m free
Larissa Lee 