III
[ring]
softly distant
[ring]
cry soft ‘n distant rise
[ring]
life’s dawn murm’ring chorus distant
rise in waves white-gold
[ring]
seep, sound, to black-fled sky
pale re-birth rings tidal
[ring]
[ ]
th’cold cast of beamed horizon
th’morrow ‘comes today
[ ]
straw, rags, ‘n apron bloodied
myriad maidens passed in bringing life
whittled lamb left bale-atop
he’ll add his arms to cradle
[still]
glazesome vision
(Merit-Amun…)
betrothed, b’loved, wished-for child
[sainted, softful silence]
Silent morning.
Earthly peace.
Servant girl re-swaddles.
A trough, now cleared of water, filled
with cloth ‘n wool ‘n hay.
Clouding o’er in patchwork blue.
A crashing wave of fire crests
the eastmost ends of Iss-Ra-El
and floods the world with dawn.
Sett’ling o’er ‘n int’ th’present,
sending out oblation:
initiate anew, incarnate is
the sun – arisen.
[sighed silence – soften]
[rustled makeshift manger]
[ ]
[ ]
[cry]
Image credit – Carol Sheli Cantrell
william altoft 