Book of Shadows

I still remember 

Walking into that shop on Parliament Street, 

Smelling the incense burning by the counter 

Feeling the energy 

As the sunlight played with countless crystals, 

And whichever faeries came to dance lightly around them. 

I remember still 

Looking through its library 

A well of wisdom of well-wishes to plan, 

To heal spirits of self and sorrow 

Or to call upon Aphrodite álainn 

To bring true love to life before its time. 

And there, in dusty prayers of hope and light 

I chose an empty, oversized notebook 

Over the printed ones of supposed solutions 

To buy, for with a pen I'd invoke 

The power to create and cast my own spells 

Of astral travel, to try to see 

Who I was thinking of becoming; 

Of auras and light, to heal my soul of nonsense; 

Of calls for clarity, to clear hormonal fog, 

Yet the Fates knew the plans of Chronos instead. 

Now, that book has returned to the shadows, 

A childhood memory as with other old games, 

but I remember still, that soft sweetened air 

As the spells were cast in hope of love to find.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Your first stanza invites me into that shop in Parliament square and the sunlight on the crystals is magical.I felt a certain heaviness of heart regarding the things that can't be driven away by spells. I hope you found love and the shadows are in the past. I love the smell of incense myself and boulevards reminded me of that. A lovely read Scott. Thank you.

Chris

[Scott De Buitléir]

Thank you again, Chris! I certainly found love, and as for the shadows, you've seen from a few of my poems that my writing is maybe like casting spells or exorcising myself of demons past. It's strange - it's been years since I've thought of that shop in Dublin until this morning, and it's been closed for years. A warm memory, yet one that hadn't popped up for quite some time.

[Chris Shaw]

Just reread and see my phone is typing in its own vocab in my responses :)