Beneath my Dormant Mask

I was born of the sea

I rose from her stark, sunless depths

Like some luxurious nymph

Proud and beautiful

Standing against her endless rage

Unafraid and joyous

My sea, she fed me

And nurtured me

I suckled of her salty sea-milk

And felt her icy grasp drip down my throat

Until I could not speak

Until I was sated

And full of her endowment

She lived through me, my sea

And I loved her

But I left her

I left her willing embrace

I strayed away from my sea

Far too long I lingered

And lost her

But I did not weep

I welcomed my detachment

I embraced my dissolution from the sea

 

Then, the day came

When she saw me

I stood, indifferent,

And pretended not to notice her

She, who bore me

She wanted me back

She spoke to me

So soothing

Whispering my name

"Come to me, sweet sea nymph"

"You belong to me"

I, in a trance, fell to her

Her pitch-dark completeness took me

And relished me

I was devoured

And all at once

I could breathe

All at once

I was home

 

Then, they appeared

They, who are the intruders

Those insidious creatures

The inhabitants of subterfuge

They entered her

And stole me from her

She, that is the sea

The elusive goddess

The all-consuming queen

They hovered, close, impending

They came to me

And wiped me free of my sea mother

They dried my drenched sea-mother hair

They dried my wet sea-mother skin

They filled my lungs with their squalid breath

And took my soul; my sea-mother soul

And I sat

Trembling before them

Bedraggled and afraid

I was re-born

 

Slowly I brave the water's edge

lest I interrupt my delicate boundaries

I cannot enter her

I can only gaze upon her loveliness

I see her

She is daunting

Caressing the sand like an ardent lover

To her obedient flame

She is unfaltering

She moves breathless and enticing

Anxiously trying to stir the origins of my being

Awake! Awake!

Alas, dear mother

I cannot see

I lie stagnant beneath my master

He is all things that rule over me

And he is relentless

 

He blinds me, Mother

He unleashes his bitter rain,

Which falls heavy upon my skin

And drowns me with its rhythmic intention

He blinds me, Mother, with his sinister night,

Which breathes eager against him

Its hushed and sultry voice

Whispers the secrets of my undoing

He blinds me, Mother, with his supernal light

Whose shadow preys upon me

And clings to me

And renders me unknown

He blinds me, Mother, with his mighty wood,

Which grows steady upon my girth

Its lustful roots penetrate deep and wounding

And force me to breed

Before long my dormant mask surrenders,

Pitiful and defenseless

But beneath I dwell in anguish

And my tears fall in steady succession

As I fail the heart of my forlorn kin

 

My destiny is unleashed

It stands defiant before me

And dares me to listen:

"You will create

And you will bring forth

And you will suffer

And you will hunger

You will deny your loneliness

You will feed your reticence

You will fulfill your obscurity"

Sorrowful earth

I am betrayed