Pomegranate

My flesh must be torn,

moment for sacrifice,

eschewing violence,

vegetal blood, food for a sangha:

red wine, apple of seduction,

self-fertile ovary, menstrual,

virginal, vaginal, fertility rite.

For this shaman’s journey

each must be taken alone,

stripped at the gates, descending,

reclaiming rubies from Hades,

promising Spring.

Consumed, consummated,

self-contained, content,

time-capsule timeless, Mystery,

coven and covenant, ark and flood,

initiate, intimate: Pomegranate.

© Tamara Rasmussen 2018