Returned
“ Return again, return again, return to the land of your soul”
The niggun’s melody guides me home

Returning, the flow of steam dances from clay thrown into vessel.
Containing. Earth. Heat. Water.
The morning’s altar: an uncluttered table with coffee and journal
Returned, I awaken!

Returning, breath’s steam entwined with winter’s fog.
Pounding on earth: heated, moist beads of sweat
Vitality pulses through veins
Returned, I move!

Returning, the larder’s musty smell of preservation.
The darkened pantry’s store: Earth, Sustenance.
A can’s seal broken, the gracious sound of abundance.
Returned, I nourish!

Returning, eyes settling on a child’s playspace.
A stuffed rabbit conducting its lego train, suspended but still moving.
Play! Imagination as future’s promise. Air.
Returned, I hope!

Returning, led by candlelight’s seduction.
Solitude’s unique lovesong. Earth, Fire, Breath.
As day’s lines fade, my soul sings to you, beloved.
Returned, I pray!

( when life’s distractions muffle the niggun’s melody, perhaps I will seek the splashing sound of the salmons’s run )
Returning, she journeys through the seasons
Laying the seeds of the future at the place of her birth
Returned! To the land of her soul.

By Melanie Kessler