Pagan Lullaby
Pagan Lullaby
And, of course, there was empire.
When wasn’t there?
And, there were those spinning
in their white robes, making a bell
out of devotion for another word for love.
And, like hope, we jammed gods
into any leaking hole:
Kybele, Artemis, or Mary.
Each a name for the creation of creation.
Each a throne in that port city, Ephesus, where
Harbor Road ends in grove, where
we port time in lieu of sea.
And, with these names, we shrouded our floors
and rock in story. Partly for warmth and
partly for warmth.
And, now nests, those carpeted thrones
where storks take the mantle.
Spinning and white,
creation, ascending.
My guess is that this may be a “you had to be there poem.” That said, I found that after it emerged my thoughts and feelings were a bit more tangible and I found a deepened attention which surprised me, which to me is a poem, which means I share :)
It is a succinct version of the unique spiritual thread that ran through our trip to Türkiye, but especially Ephesus (with an honorable poetic mention for the Whirling Dervishes).
While in Ephesus we heard about the ways in which the indigenous mother goddess Kybele (a Mother Earth and the mother of creation) was a powerful force in Ephesus, now Selçuk. When the Romans arrived, the worship of this goddess was converted to the Ephesian Artemis, a powerful “mother of creation” figure. Some trace the lineage all the way through to the Virgin Mary who lived (and likely died) in Ephesus and is viewed by many to be the mother of creation if you think about it… today there are remnants of these beliefs all over the ancient and modern city. Then the leap — the city is heavily occupied with storks who migrate North from Africa. Upon leaving Ephesus, I kept thinking about the ways these birds symbolize creation, life and the skies as well. And thus, this.
With gratitude and jetlag,