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Life After Life
by by Vivien Steels

I Creation
Clouds of darkness whispered to light.
Light flooded past the moon and stars,
burst into flames
and beat down in bars of gold.
Seeds of the cold soil stirred,
forced their fragile stems,
unfurled their leaves
and rushed to meet the sun.

II Lovers
His body turns,
arms encircling her body.
His hands move to her face,
Holding her head to his shoulder.
His fingers push hair from her face.
Softly, dreamily, time slips into slow-motion.
Light smudges into semi-darkness.
Eyes half-close, gentleness stirs.
The bodies become taut, cling, press together,
moulded into a perfect sculpture of glistening marble
of hardness and tenderness –
renewing and dying together
in the language of love.

III Birth
Made of man and woman
I grow inside this warm sea
with curved tail, fish-like;
an archetype of creation,
blind but developing.
The heart beat pulses blood
through my form.
I feel, I am, I will be.
I emerge in pain from darkness to light.

IV Gypsy
My feet have never walked
along the same path twice.
I move onwards.
My dark hair shines
like a raven’s wing, blue-black.
My skirt flutters like wool
left by sheep on fences.
I feel life dancing in my feet.
My soul sings out.
Sky kisses grass,
colours rippling across my eyes
and I am free forever.

I have lived, I am.
My eyes have seen, I see.
My body has felt,
my mind has been raised
and I believe.
I meet this darkness, this light
with a love of life,
with a love of death.
Living, dying, I am.

V Apache Girl
My tribe covers a small part
of my larger home,
the rolling plains.
Warm, made of skin, a point of light,
my tipi reaches to the sky,
land of the Great Spirit.
My beads and rugs
tell picture-stories.
Life is the big hunt
for food,
for the path,
for oneself.
What belongs to me
belongs to all my people.
I can see beyond.

I have lived, I am.
My eyes have seen, I see.
My body has felt,
my mind has been raised
and I believe.
I meet this darkness, this light
with a love of life,
with a love of death.
Living, dying, I am.

VI Star Traveller
You say I’m here until I die.
But I’m visiting, I’m lent.
I’m observing, I’m learning.
Don’t think I don’t like it here,
but you’ve locked the door
upon yourselves.
You’re shut up,
you’re hiding behind a wall,
you’re running from the waterfall.
Slow down and you will move much faster.
You might think there’s no point.
You might feel life is dead;
a voice of a ghost
sounding like a tombstone.

But everything has meaning,
everything is real,
everything is there.
But everything passes, changes,
moves onwards, upwards.

I have lived, I am.
My eyes have seen, I see.
My body has felt,
my mind has been raised
and I believe.
I meet this darkness, this light
with a love of life,
with a love of death.
Living, dying, I am.

VII Rebirth
I will never pass this way again.
I have been borrowed out of time.
I have learned
and must travel beyond
with my wisdom -
the star gate beckons.

I look down upon myself.
The world melts and flows with me.
The star gate opens,
white light explodes
into splinters of gold.

I was.
I am.
I will be…











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