Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 29

“three large rabbit-breaths of air”

See the world as a rabbit sees it.
Wide angle view,
Not straight ahead
As a predator sees,
But sidelong, as prey animals see.

Long shadows,
Tall grass.
Noting every hiding place.
Ready to bolt
At the first sign
Of predators.
Each breath taken
Short and shallow.
Darting from shelter
To shelter.
Grass here,
Lettuce there.
Sun is warm,
Earth is kind.

Yvonne Aburrow
7:50 am, 28 April 2022

Inspired by the phrase “three large rabbit-breaths of air” in the poem My Weather by Jane Hirshfield

Nonetheless

None of the poems I read today
Spoke into the depths
Nor raised an answering echo.
Petrarch, Chaucer, Donne,
Whispering their plaints into the soft air
Fell to earth, drifting ash.
Nonetheless I wrote this,
To record the ensuing silence.

Yvonne Aburrow
27 April 2022

The uncomplaining stars

The low cosmic hum
Of all the stars
singing the worlds into being.
Who can know the thoughts of a star,
Or how they compose
The music of the spheres?
What faults might stars commit
That they fall to earth
A bolt from the infinite,
Becoming finite, massy?
If they look upon the pale blue dot
And hear the tumult,
Do they not complain
Of the marring of their music?
Or is the discordant theme
Woven into the greater music?

Yvonne Aburrow, 8:00 am, 26 April 2022

Inspired by the line “The uncomplaining stars com...

The line of prayer

Roots pushing down
Into the dark earth
To find the mother.

A tendril of incense smoke
Seeking the stars.

Sparks from the fire
Riding the currents of air,
Winking out in the night.

Water threading its way
Through caves
Ready to be reborn
Into the light.

Love finding its way
Through the cracks
In the pavement.

A hand extended
To caress or bless.
Reaching for the sun.

The heart’s rhythms
Exploring the depths
Of the underworld.

A thread of gold
Snaking through the clouds
Of the unknown.

Insp...

Coven structure & roles

I recently listened to an interesting podcast from Circle Talk: Four Witches on Coven Hierarchy. I was pleased to note that most of the speakers on the podcast were advocating for a pretty flat hierarchy. I have written a fair amount about the roles and expectations of the different degrees in Wicca (in All acts of love and pleasure: inclusive Wicca) and quite a lot about coven leadership and the concept of “elders” (in The Night Journey: Witchcraft as Transformation). I regard the Wiccan degree...

I am the Earth

If you hold a shell up to your ear
Then you can hear
The oceans in your blood.

If you stand or sit or lie
Then you can feel
The earth’s crust in your bones.

If you focus on your breath,
Then you can sense
The air that gives us life.

If you touch your belly’s curve
Then you caress
The fire that lives within.

If you know that these are sacred
Then your body knows
You are the Earth and the Earth is you.

Without the oceans, trees,
And birds and bees,
There is no Earth, there is no me.

The Eart...

submerged peaks

Just out of the corner
Of your conscious mind
Something lurks in the shadows:
A half forgotten memory
Surfacing from below.
A shark or a whale
Sliding through dark water.
The mountain of a lost continent,
Land of make-believe
And childhood imaginings,
Or some drowned feeling
Covered in seaweed.
Not quite reachable,
Not quite visible,
But it leaves a trace
As it heaves through
The dark oily water.

Yvonne Aburrow (8:28 am, 21 April 2022)

Inspired by the phrase “submerged peaks” in Great Ships
by ADAM ZAGAJEW...

wild hollow hoarlight

The hoar frost encases every twig,
A cold aura shining.
The wild light from the low sun
Lifting the clouds,
Looking for lost secrets
Under their cushions.
The cold lurks in the hollows.
Colours are quiet, drab, modest,
Hiding their promise
Beneath their winter coats.

Yvonne Aburrow
8:52 am, 20 April 2022

Inspired by the phrase “wild hollow hoarlight” in Spelt from Sibyl’s Leaves
by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

My books

My books

DARK MIRROR

“Inviting us to examine many different aspects of Initiatory Wicca, this book is aimed at both initiates and non-initiates. It could certainly be used as the basis of a coven training programme but is also invaluable for the solo practitioner.”

— Morgana Sythove,
Pagan Federation International
https://silvercircle.org
https://wiccanrede.org

Available from the Doreen Valiente Foundation and all other online retailers

THE NIGHT JOURNEY

“The Night Journey ut...

mad and moonly

Wind rattles the pines
Playing an obscure game
Known only to itself.

A child fighting an imaginary
Opponent with an invisible sword.
A moon orbiting a dark planet.

Now the child dances
Between falling snow
Counting the clouds.

Lovers dance with an image
Of the beloved, each moving
To a different tune.

But when we see each other
By moonlight, under the stars,
We see truly.

Yvonne Aburrow
7:24pm, 19 April 2022

Inspired by the phrase “mad and moonly” in [love is more thicker than forget]...