On the steep side of a dark mountain
Crowded with dirty travellers
And revellers and swine
All the mud trickled downward 
Through the ugliest fires
And nothing was gentle
And nothing was fine 

I asked the genie to pour a girl out of her bottle
As easy as a flower sprouts from a pond
So she poured blue powder making a sandy mottle
And merely gazed at her sparkling wand

And she rose like a spinning plant
Dancing every sway to greet the spring 
Two hands open
Two eyes smiling 
With the perfection a spice of sadness brings

And her mother glanced at my imperfect bones
My strong gaze
My shrouded soul
Said here is an example of mixed blood
Study it well to know what's not whole

But her words were weak acid
Losing their corrosion
For to only hold poor mother's human shoulder
There was a flicker of real light in the angry red flame
I could cook back some love into that searching holder
Of secrets and hopes that somewhere were blamed

But these are not our battles on this magical night
It's us we're to heal
It's us we're to heal

I said "let me carry you"
She said "let me carry you"
And so we went up the mountain together,
Passing crowds of broken women 
Heathen and poisoned with hearts set on division
Let me carry you
Praise life
Let me carry you 


***
May 2014