a cloak of many feathers

A CLOAK OF MANY FEATHERS

• SOPHIA

i awoke
in a field of flowers in the moonlight
and the wind whispered
that something was missing

and so
i gathered around me
my cloak of many feathers
and flew to the stars

surfacing
through water
i found myself
under a bridge in the
city of trolls.

i wandered for
what seemed like endless nights
drunk upon the magic found
in strange places in this neighborhood

until i started noticing
a voice,
coming through the random babble,
with lilting pieces of an unknown alchemy,
bubbling up through the troll-speak

and there you sat, amusing the patrons
of a tavern, a beauty, shining with
all the shades of living;
made to believe you were
a misfit at home only
on this island of lost toys,
who though magnetized by
your voice and compassion
turned blind ears,
that could not recognize the tesserae of
beauty truth and knowledge,
scintillating throughout your words,
too many of which seemed locked behind your eyes
seeking an understanding companion.

As i continued wandering through the troll city,
seeing many amazing sights, but always
lost in the mundane babble of troll speech,
i kept being drawn back to the tavern,
and catching glimpses of you
and snatches of your speech,
and though you were talking
in the troll dialect,
i kept hearing the poetry
of magic and science
ring through your words
clear as a bell
inside me

one day
as we two sat for a moment
of calm in the usual chaotic tavern;
you realized i could hear and understand
your language and the thoughts behind your words:
and we spoke of freedom
in our own language

you
pulled me into the dark.
kissing
we merged, as
worlds crumbled around us,
and falling backwards
into a brick wall,
in an alley
under a bridge,
my cloak of many feathers
engulfs us
and darkness
comes in squares
taking away everything
until there is
a white light

you
push me
and i roll
but you hold on
and we lie upon
the feathers under
a star filled sky,
on a beach.

a
single feather
floats down from above
parabolas cutting
slowly above your head

i pluck it from the air
and slowly draw its edge
along your ear.
your eyes close.
a shudder rushes
down your spine,
and for a brief moment,
your body pulls close
and holds tightly
to mine;
then you giggle and smile
and eyes open,
sparkling.

but
we notice
the feather has changed in my hand:
it is now a soft,
ever so soft,
paper,
folded
origami-like,
as a feather.

puzzled,
you start to unfold the
geometries of this math
{literally "treasure"}
to reveal a verse
written in strange inks
and an alien language

but you read it aloud
and we both understand somehow
and stars begin to turn molten platinum
in the ebon sky dripping towards the dark waters
the moon
turns to
a diamond
spinning flashing
and we are
aware of
a great web
{literally "tantra"}
connecting our beings
to the earth sun and moon
and other moons
around other stars...

amazed,
but with a nonchalance
that is your hallmark,
you pulled another feather
from my cloak of many verses
and tickle my left foot,
which becomes black,
as if i had but one boot on;
and as the black starts to grow up my leg
deep ebon curvilinear shapes begin
twining my leg in spirals,
celtic and norse curlicues,
turning to flowers and galaxies,
birds beings and ideas
all combining in a strange new
constellation
we somehow know is a map.

"open it"
you whisper next to my face
your breath hot, and
your lips close to my shell spiral
i wonder,
if you listened,
could you hear the ocean
in my ear...

i unfold the
tesseract petals
of the paper feather
to again see unknown glyphs
but these were silver
and seemed to be crawling
across the page
alive

i somehow know the sounds
and recite aloud the unknown tongue,
staring into your eyes,
as if i had always known the language
but was only now discovering
that another in this universe
understood it too

and we are spinning,
spiralling,
but know we
are lying still
upon the cloak of many verses

and we realize we are naked
and unashamed of truth
past present future
all seem to combine
and we realize that though
apparently spinning we are still:
an axis mundi
of multiple
universes.

We see worlds evolve
and dissappear;
love and evol playing out
in grand games and simple moments:
great empires,
and humble creatures
all taking the same path;
as time and space
recombine in mind around
us until we again
fall into each other
and darkness...

And
i awake
feeling warm water
lapping against
my left foot.
i think,
the dream is over,
for a moment,
then feel your chest
weighing mine down,
not uncomfortably;
our breaths
strangely in unison to each other
and to the lapping of the water.

the skies are now teal
and purple
sunset tropical

the cloak of many verses
still lies under us
i look down to see the black
on my leg is now outlined
in pale green,silver and purple
filaments
reminiscent of the alien poems
and also of our strange new skies
and within the black it seems
to sparkles like mica.
i think its wetness from the waters
but realize some of the ebon scenes
are above the splash, and
it seems they glitter
as if night skies
with scintillating stars
in distant horizons.

i look at your hair
spread out on my chest,
and stroke it's softness,
soft as the magic paper feathers
and it too seems to have stars
trailing through it as i pull
my fingers

you stir
and sigh
a gentle mewl of content
then you are kissing
sweetly softly
butterfly wings on dandelions
at first i think
it's just your eyelids fluttering
i think the growing moist mat of my hair
must be tears
until your lips pressure more
and a tongue, then teeth
flick my nipple
a nibble,
then playfully hard...
the sudden emptiness
like a bell chime when released.

"the water's warm"
your lips mumble against me
"your leg has worlds shining within it..."
an awed unbelief,
an unexpected joyfulness,
at the surprise of it all.

"and you drew them into being with a feather poem
my strangely magical friend"

you crawl up me,
legs straddling,
elbows tepeeing
as you stare into my eyes
"what's happening?"

"do you believe in magic,
in a young g.."
i start to sing
before you elbow me lightly
and we both laugh
your breasts dancing
with your delight

my hands now felt along your legs
discovering a cicatrix,revealed by palm:
a palimpset,
a map of contoured geography
showing a history of pain
and misunderstandings behind you.

I kiss you deeply
and lift and turn
so you are now under me
on your back
on the softest feathers
atop the softer alien sands
of this strange new land

we kiss
for what seems to be an aeon:
i wasn't sure if perhaps
night and day had passed again
as the helix of interconnectedness
met and explored
two beings combining
communicating
no language needed
still poetry
ringing behind
third eyes
focused as
one

i
pull back,
and down
exploring
paradisiacal
landscape until
i find
a fragrant beautiful
flower,
that is yours unique
unreplicateable;
a snowflake,
a mystical rose,
the spiral of a conch:
the musky ambrosia glistening
edges as i draw closer
then held a moment,
and kiss thighs astride the valley

you squirm
as if uncomfortable
for me being so close
to the scars from your past:
but as i kissed
and accepted every one,
giving blessings to each
as something
that had heated
hammered or tempered
you into the creature you now were,
you open back up,
and move into the kisses.

i pluck
a feather from between your legs
and slowly draw
the tip up,
the opening tulip
moistening the end.
once again exquisite shudder
through you making it
quiver like a baby dove
after a rain storm.

i kiss you deeply and long
the salt and ambrosia
combining to honeydew;
juicy,
my lips pull back
and opening the feather
i again
speak the unknown runes aloud

waves rush up us
our legs electrified
by the suddenness;
and you match the lunar pull
gushing and open
your beauty pulling me up
like iron,
to a loving stone,
a siva lingam
to your
holy yoni,
your great
attractor

a
lightening
bolt
pierces
the lotus blossom
womb
of the darkening sky

the moistness on your thighs begins to glow,
and as i again kiss your scars,
where our joined waters combine,
new beautiful unseen before
oil slick rainbow
fractal convolutions
of curvilinear abstractions appear
embracing engulfing
amplifying and uplifting
past events
not to hide,
but to evolve,
so as to open new realms to
be mapped and explored,
leaving the past ones behind

and through it all
i can hear your voice
above me and inside me
speaking of
unbelievable realities;
telling me of great and mysterious
things ideas and events
in galaxies
we have just begun to visit.

and we talk
without words
our minds combine
and we love
without restraint
our bodies combine
and we create
with words images
ideas and adventures
new worlds only we
can explore.