Signs of Life in Between

Morning

Venus and Jupiter held hands.
Mahina, the Moon, was brilliant, not far away from the pair,
in her just scooped out shape. Is she 'Ole or Kaloa?
Sky more deep and dark than bright.

Day
The Sun, Ka La, has a mostly clear sky today.
Streaks of clouds, plenty of them.

Wash Day.
Lines string between the pillars of the Pavilion.
The big white cooler ... wash tub.
Hot water, baking soda and white vinegar ... wash basics.

Between washes, a walk.
Up the trail to the Oak Forest place.
Along the way not far from the golden wagon ... Coyote left a piece of his tail.
On the trails the grasses are softening.
Birds flit ... feeding, gathering nesting ... too early for that?
More signs of Coyotes as I exert a little more lung to climb.
I leave my mark. But, they already know us.
We live here, too.

We howl at the Big White Dog who barks at them.
We howled with Coyote when Mahina was Full ... then darkened by Earth's Shadow.
We howled  and felt the shift between, within ... making room like butterflies inside cocoons.

Astrologically.

"Thursday, Saturn in Capricorn sextiles Neptune in Pisces, each in the sign they rule. They won’t do that again, this time around, while both are direct... Together in sextile, these planets are best explained in metaphor: the caterpillar/butterfly when obscured in its chrysalis. You can’t see reality, but something is in the works. The opportunity is solid, but it’s also uncertain. For now. The gains we see and grasp are not all there is to this influence. We are changed. Everything is changed by what we’ve touched in divinity, but that change is not entirely clear in the short term. Believe in the gains that show up now, but leave room for what hasn’t yet arrived" - Satori

A friend left us with a gift the other day. She said the book reminded her of my writing. The book? Becoming Animal by David Abram.

" David Abram reminds us of what we already know, but have allowed the artifices of technology and over-reliance on abstract intelligence to dull: We are each of us gifted with animal senses that languish without exercise, and that can excite and nourish our spiritual and sensual engagement with the world."

Hawaiians and Indigenous cultures across Earth live this "spiritual and sensual engagement with the world." Hawaiians call it being Mauliauhonua, families intimate with the place where they live. The tricky part about becoming mauliauhonua in this twenty-first century world, is the challenge of the colonized mind hidden in so many places, in so many unexpected beliefs layered in the folds of our na'au the gut unsure of who or what are invaders. It's no wonder the modern day Indigenous immune system breaks out in hives!

The process of unfurling wet wings tight in the obscured chrysalis, is painful. And in many cases, the question is: Why did it take so long?

Pete helped me wring the dirty water from the heavy hoodie I wear to keep me warm against the North breezes. He said in answer to that question, "I guess it doesn't matter that it took so long. It just matters that it does happens." Colonized thinking has embedded itself in so many places. Generational metamorphosis takes time... again and again. I am an old woman with skin wearing thin. The signs of life in between leaves me spotted. What shape will I take when those holes fill in again?


Do you relate? I'd love to hear about it.