Twelve months ago,
a brisk January beginning,
a gift in her hand.
“Open it”, she swoons.
Wrappings fell to the floor,
a box lid yawns wide,
reveals a rainbow blanket
splayed in glory,
a present of presence.

“Let’s switch places,” she poses.
My clenched grip of striving unfurls, I
place my efforts on the golden altar.
Allow her, the new year,
to swaddle me close in a colorful embrace.
She places me on her lap,
spins her song of beauty,
places silky medicine in my heart.

Upside down,
cocooned for a year —
Anointed with color,
the paint of cosmic swirls
shifting cells, metaphors of
ancient stories unlock their
mystery of knowing
through the gateway
of an unadorned canvas.

Now, the blanket slips away,
shelter of love releases,
my salty skin sheds fibers
no longer necessary, I
leave the shell behind, bring
the memory of the grace of God —
wings swell wide
to fresh adventures

of abundant holy goodness