GUARDIAN GODDESS Copyright © 2009 Kaaren Whitney

so connected to the Earth not even
the thread of a spider separates the two.
She, the perpetuator, sustainer
of dreams and desires made flesh, gives
to generation after generation
from her realm.

The web extends, includes all living things
from a flake of snow to fern's filigree,
from a single insect learning to fly
to a fish swimming with shimmering scales.
All come under the continuity
of her realm.

These are her children, carried, laboured, birthed
and suckled until they stand on their own,
start to forge their self-made mark, forgetting
not the route, the one who gave of her being,
her blood and tissue to give them passage
to their realm.