To Be Reborn

By Teresa Williams

What if rebirth
is like stepping into a room,
something ordinary, then
              Surprise!
Giant crimson tree, temple of hexagons,
a magic cup of moon-tea.

                          Rebirth.
Incited by luminescence, light chaser, Isis.
Through layers of ancient skin you came
from black to red to breathing center.
Now here, you are the shimmering one
the one who ripples and shines
glittering the air, gold and bright. You
shooting star of a songbird light.

Once again,
feel your freshly found face
flooding the room with new freedom,
star nectar, white queen, gleaming.

And again,
savor this renewal this taste of dawn
as you swallow death's end,
from bitter and night, bitter
then sweet
             holy crescent,

oracle of brilliance

you

stepping into

       a new room.

Nacer de nuevo (To Be Reborn) by Remedios Varo,
oil on Masonite, 1960, 31 7/8 x 18 1/2 in. From
The Magic of Remedios Varo by Luis-Martin Lozano.
Translated by Elizabeth Goldson Nicholson and
Liliana Valenzuela.

_________________________

About Teresa: Teresa Williams is a psychotherapist, poet and translator in Seattle, Washington. She has been writing and trying to live poetry for as long as she can remember. Her love for travel and the Spanish language has called her into translation work. She is also an active member of Grupo Cervantes, a bilingual writer’s group and literary community in Seattle.

Teresa’s poetry has been featured at births, weddings, funerals and several talent shows held by the closest of friends. Her first piece on red Ravine, Sound Falling From One World Into Another, was published in August 2010 and featured the poems: Swans, Two Coyotes at Dawn, and Tarot. It was followed by The Devil’s Bridge, a poem that speaks to the legends and mythology surrounding bridges throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia, and continental Europe. Her last piece for red Ravine featured the poem Tortoise Highway.

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WRITING TOPIC – CIRCLES

Untitled, light and dark circles in morning, all photos © 2007 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.



Circles. Round and round we go. We talk in circles, walk in circles. Swim in circles. Run circles around the competition. We circle around issues, circle the wagons. Circles under your eyes means you’re tired. Crop circles mean you’ve been visited by alien life. There are sewing circles, literary circles, study circles. Which circle do you run with?

Circles never end.



                 


Look at the word circle.

If you say it enough times it starts to lose its meaning.
Circle circle circle circle circle circle. 


The circle is sacred in many cultures. In the book Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance, author Iris Stewart writes, “The circle is perhaps the most ancient of mystical symbols and the most universal of all dances. It is the earth and the sun in eternal movement, an unbroken, unbent line symbolizing continuity and eternity. The circle dance represents wholeness. The dance brings life full circle.”

The passage of time, the seasons, the cycle of life.
All circles.
The sun, earth, and moon.
Round.
We join hands in a circle of prayer.


Lakota Indian Wallace Black Elk said:

Zero (0) is not ‘nothing’.
It’s a circle, without beginning or end.
Holy.
Healed. 

What do circles mean to you? Write about circles.

Slow walk a circle, not so big as to get lost nor so small as to make yourself dizzy. Then sit down with your notebook and fast-writing pen, write the word “CIRCLES” at the top of your page, set your timer for 15 minutes, and go.



        

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