105-106/365 Forgotten Phoenix
Rise, Fall, and Space Between
Pantoum #105
Find your Phoenix breath
A choking dance in smouldering ash
And up through flame
That space between ignites the flight
A choking dance in smouldering ash
Then, the pause between push and pull
That space between ignites the flight
A blazing bellows exhaling to open sky
Then, the pause between push and pull
And up through flame
A blazing bellows exhaling to open sky
Find your Phoenix breath
Pantoum #106
I’m looking high and low
For wings to cling to warmer currents
What lands is a too-brief greeting
Hi to the high, then hello to the hell of low
For wings to cling to warmer currents
I search for that heavenly space between
Hi to the high, hello to the hell of low
A fleeting welcome before the by and by
I search for that heavenly space between
Only to find a too-brief greeting
A fleeting welcome before the by and by
I’m looking high and low
The Proutopia Tree in my backyard has been many things. In 2021, the crocheted sun that we had hung high each year — stretched between branches like a great cosmic web — set itself ablaze, becoming a rising Phoenix. This was a celebration of re-gathering after long months of isolation. It was also a ritual — a rising above the infernos we’d each endured.
The portal became a ring of fire.
Before walking through, visitors were invited to let go — to whisper or name something that no longer served them and leave it in the flames behind.
Also in the yard, was a sickly tree - small extensively pruned. Desperately fighting for its life, its shape echoing both skeletal loss and raw potential — became the Phoenix Tree.
Guests were invited to tie a painted feather to its branches — each inscribed with a message from their own Inner Phoenix. Words like:
“Your fire is not too much.”
“Burn and be born again.”
“Release the pain.”
I had forgotten about the Phoenix festival we created here. Maybe that's how it works — we rise and reinvent so often, we don't always remember.
INVITATION:
What are you greeting today — the high or the low?
Write a word, sketch a shape, or create one small act of beginning.
See you tomorrow for #107,
P.S. If you want to browse through some of my writings visit The Pantoumery. What’s a pantoum, you say? I’m writing one each day, for a year. Learn how HERE
Also, The Well platform (prompts, classes and meeting links) is now available as mobile app!
