Ecstatic Burdens

Mystical poem and Hymn To Aphrodite 3. Written 11-23-24.

1.
How can I look You in the eye, my Goddess,
Unless I come to You with my heart in hand?
Unless I brew a love potion bound to the world,
And drain it to the bottom in one long gulp?

I can’t bear to be apart any longer, my Love,
I can’t bear to play any more childish games,
To sit alone and longing in the shivering dark,
Wondering how I can live up to Your calling

2.
Another god once said that His sacrifice,
Is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, 
And I have marveled over this gift of tears,
Wondering often how I could bear to give it

Yet another god, His face stained with blood,
From a weary brow weeping angry wounds,
Called to me to take up His cross and walk,
And then, to my horror, went utterly silent

3.
Oh Goddess, I am struck down again and again,
Swept away and washed clean in a storm,
Terrified and exhausted and left wondering,
At love’s ancient demands and young desires

Why have You called me to this commission,
Why have You called this fool, this broken toy,
To this wondrous and aching thing called love,
This life of ecstatic burdens that set me free?

4.
Make of me a living sacrifice, my Goddess,
Take me by the hand and lead me to the altar,
Bare my neck to the blade and blow me a kiss,
As I sign my life away into Your loving care

For I have come to love freely and of free will,
I have chosen even as You chose me,
I am a mere flower following You, my Love,
As You arc Your way across the purple skies