This poem makes reference to the five of cups card in Tarot. The five of cups traditionally shows a man in a dark robe. In front of him is a river, and a castle, but he doesn’t notice either, as he is grieving. The image came to me as a way to explore stepping beyond fear of loss to awareness of our real home in our own bodies. It’s also about building a castle, finding a space and a place to do the work.
for the builders
There is a figure walking
Under the harsh sky
Far away from starlight
In robes that have run dry.
A desert full of sorrow
A cup that has been spilt
Nothing running by him,
No home upon the hill.
Who shall release the sunset
Now that the day is done,
Who shall release the sunset
And let the night come on?
Come in among the castle walls
Come in while night comes on,
Come in among the castle walls
For in your face I see the sun,
And in your hair so wild and gold,
And in your face of rays,
I see the ocean
I see the fire
I see the ever-lasting gaze.
Call in the makers,
call them in
to give to lust, desire,
call in the builders,
call them in,
to sink the well
and raise the fire.
We have been burnt,
We have been ash,
We have been salt and grit.
We have been nothing – bone and flame
-
Yet still we walk
and still we live.
We have been nothing – bone and flame
Yet still we wield need,
As if it were a stonemason
To make the rocks take heed.
To set the walls up bright and high
We call upon desire
As if it were an architect
To give a home to fire.
Call in the wielders
call them in,
for they will bless this house
Who summon up,
With every beat
The loss that takes its place in blood.
They will release,
With palm on skin,
The loss that takes its place within
And with each lash
And with each cry,
The wheel begins to turn,
And with each breath
And with each sigh
The river and the castle come.
Call in the mages
call them in
the ones who give a home to sin
the ones who make the rock by knowing
the blossom on the hard stone growing.
And you who make a house of bones
And hold a house of fire,
And let it light you home from home
And let it start the pyre.
Oh you who make the taking wide
and wilder than the night,
Oh you who dress in love and bone,
Oh you who rest and make the light.
We shall build a castle,
Out of bones and sky,
And we shall build a castle,
To call the lovers by.
A castle on the hill top
We’re building from a seed
The roof of wild inception
The floor of earth and need.
A truth that is long coming
A truth that is long past
Again the need is rising
Again the wind is vast.
The rhythm ever-lasting
The sanction of the night,
The breathing and returning
The slowly growing light
of passion and desire,
the singing of the need
The touch that is entire
The thought that is received.
There is a figure walking
walking by the sky
walking by the starlight
in robes of silken time.
A castle on the hilltop
A river running by
A jasmine in the garden
A river and a cry,
And by the castle garden,
And by the broken sand,
The figure in the starlight,
Gifts us with his land.
