This is a poem of Annie's that I've just been given a copy of. It is an extraordinary and beautiful poem, and has really brightened my weekend up!

 

ALL THAT REMAINS

 

Until all that remains is the breath

as it ebbs and flows on the tide of consciousness.

Dreams and thoughts pass and go

until all that remains is the stillness.

 

A minute passes, an aeon passes.

 

I feel every cell in my body,

each one is familiar and present.

My roots are grounded in the russet earth,

and I know what it means to belong.

 

Betwixt the roots lies the nest of twin serpents

I feel them beginning to stir,

Slowly awakening from their long sleep.

Little by little they raise up their heads,

and tentatively initiate their timeless courtly dance.

Winding and twining round the column of my spine

in perfectly mirrored movements,

writhing upwards in the haze of a ruby.

 

Higher and higher they rise

sharing intimacy

in the light of a sweet amber moon.

I know how to share with another.

 

Onward and upward, curling and twirling

and into the light of the sun.

Into the fire that burns in the City of  Jewels,

fanned by the breath of forever.

I know what it is to have will.

 

Slither and slide in the grass of the garden

where compassion springs flowers on every tree,

where emeralds shine in the heart of forgiveness.

I know what it is to have mercy.

 

Ride on the thermals, and soar with the condor,

high above the peaks of Volcan.

Glide……. into azure……………..

purified, rarified, sanctified,

my voice gives meaning to chaos

 

Across the last bridge and the serpents

lie quiet in the Wheel of Becoming.

Amethyst mist is lifted

and my eyes raise the Veil of Illusion.

I see how to know without thinking.

 

Smooth in the groove into violet velvet

a lotus grows forth from my crown,

a thousand petals open into glory

and the sun meets the moon in fulfilment.

The might of their union

sears through each layer of my being

until I am one with creation

and shine like the birth of a star.

All at once I am all that I have been

and all that I am yet to become

This mortal shell is shattered

and scatters its atoms across space,

blasted by the force of the sublime,

it reaches the place in the universe

where the end and the beginning are one.

 

All that remains is peace,

and I find eternity

in a moment.