Yew Berries

I

Today
my life is filled with love
with beauty
every cell in my body smiles
with the sun and the answered prayers

and the reply is to write poems of love
to let my heart sing
to let my arms dance
to let the music fill me
the beauty is so huge
it can not sit still in my chest
and all the people i have ever loved
who are not here
who are gone, who got away
are here
dancing in the sunlight with me
dancing to the music with me

And for all the souls
in pain
in mourning and shock
I dance
for you too
I will rejoice in this body, in this moment
until my last breath
in honor of you.

I eat
the yew berries off the tree
glowing jewel red
tasting the sweet flesh
spitting out the poisonous seeds
letting them fly from my mouth

II

Infected by this terminal life
the wind blows
the candles out
the lightning strikes
and sets new fires
and you fall away
fall off the edge
and others land
fill
grow
and stub their toes
and then grow more
then fall away
and we mourn and scream
and the storm rages over us
rips us back into
the earth dark earth
the heart of the volcano
and then the sun shines again
and we spread our wings to dry
we dance in the air
flying like golden leaves
drifting out of control
towards the ground.