Remembered Fields of Light

(11/20/02)

Was Arthur King of Brittany, the Bear,

My kin and brother in those ages past

Or was I he who wed fair Guinevere

Whose destiny with Lancelot was cast?

Why do the pains of centuries recur

In moments when my heart envisions her

Or when I listen close and hear the call

To battle from the mouths of vanished kings,

And know my armour's sound in that great hall,

Aware these are no vain imaginings,

For I am there again in other space,

On the face of time my ageless fingers trace

Crystal cities of teal and amethyst

In glistening light before my ancient eyes,

Appearing slowly from a silver mist

To burn in sovereign splendour through the skies.

I smell the earth, the forests rich with peat

And tender moss that sinks beneath my feet.

I move through these remembered fields of light

And lands where Beauty lives and love the lone

Companion through the labyrinth of night,

And glimpse the past through which my soul has grown.

(First published in Mother India - March 2004)