Hush

Hush

my dear heart

myself 

walk where the dead rest

and ask you for nothing 

there will be time enough 

later to pay what is owed

to all the living 

who want a piece of you.

Walk now in the grey

where the mist rises 

and no one seeks you 

here your solitude is 

an offering 

a song 

that winds up like woodsmoke 

to the pale heavens 

bright but impenetrable 

and hung with clouds.

Stillness will find its way

into you

like rising water 

it will flood the heart chambers

and drown out the voices 

that cannot be silenced

abandon yourself 

to the tide of it

and you will not be sorry.

Hush

my dear ones

my friends 

the wind is whispering 

through the last leaves

and I am making 

a ritual of loneliness 

to lay at the feet 

of the gods.