stirred by the breezy whispers
of a question blown on the wind
why did you run
the breath gently parting
the leaves of her once hair
where once life coursed
with a virgin lust through
veins and flesh and cupid
shot his arrows
love through his heart

he, the Sun god
bristled down bare-chested
bold and bucking
incandescently wild
his lust unbridled
he sought to pin
to his whim
the virgin nymph
that fled from him

I always feel her in me
every time he reaches for her
a namesake that flows
through this being
like an origin
beyond my years
Daphne rears back
before so much passion
and runs in fear
fleeing blindly
to protect her
maidenhead

things change quickly
leaving behind
her huntress bow
she saw red
Thanatos in her blood
the poison of rejection
as he demands entry
into her most secret place
as if he knew
what it was like
to not be free
on two feet
she keep moving
but hes so powerful
so fast he closes in

as he grasps her hair
she spasms ruthlessly
daddy save me
she pleads distressed
a kind of panicked wail
that escapes your throat
when the cracks of death
creep up your being
and spider through your voice
hoarse and desperate
to not lose her essence
to have a choice

his desire to keep
took her innocence
he witnessed her change
skin to bark hair to leaves
a namesake that flows
through my being
from life to the living death
of grounding
into the earth
my bones sunk deep
into responsibility
to be in this new shape
I constantly chafe against

she escaped
elusive and mysterious
unable to express
tried to capture
her ineffable sublime
but untamed like the shine
that glistens in your eyes
the question rings harsh
and unexpected
when the wind blows
why did you run?

she mourns tenderly
her loss of opportunities
never known to ignorance
she died untouched
yet transformed
to give birth and life
weeping into her roots
into life’s stream
shedding her virginity
excised in suffering
of her femininity
a circumcision of her
very ability
to ever feel the pleasure
of touch again

none could claim
the legacy dedicated
to her life committed
she became firmly planted
and stuck is not
the same as choiceless
her bark is now her armor
made of passing memory
she knows this life’s a dream
her expectations and resentments
were real yet imaginary
strength is not in the keepers’ keys
her misty notions vanishing
as time’s clock put a lock on
the recognitions in her sight
she transformed tragedy
change is letting go and
finding it wasn’t so bad
why did it feel so threatening
so much worse from the
sleeping side of life?
had I known this love of adventure
for awakening and thriving on healing
I want you to open you spontaneously
the delicate folds of your dreaming
I will love you till you
yield to me and then beyond
it is my nature to fluidly
surrender to your most tender
without asking
without parting
without anything more
than this promise
I will never give up
with you in me
my love always
venus cups her womb for you
life springs from death
you are my beautiful phoenix
crossing the seventh house
your chariot under my feet
you are the fertile soil
for my emotions
your wealth nourishes me
rich with all your imperfect
the immediacy of desire
has a way of putting me
in touch with what matters
together means never far
no matter how it resolves
juicy compressions
nothing is missing
hungry or satisfied states
are complete
yet resolution of alchemy
comes through the marrying
of binding principles releasing
the essence like the flower opens
and you give me these daily
vitamins of sustenance
like minerals are expressions
of the earth’s longing
like Daphne’s run from life
and in death finding
the source of all mind

-arya sunyata