It was the first day of eighth grade;
the last year of middle school,
thank goodness. There, amid the
whispers and sneers and prying looks,
I tried to be invisible. It was the only way
to survive in the midst of cruel laughter
and second assumptions, melodramatic reactions.
But that day, someday had seen me.
Somebody had made the effort
to befriend me, because I complimented
her pants. Shes the new girl
and I wanted to be nice, unlike
everyone else. I felt a moment
of connection, of premonition,
that we would build a great friendship.
I felt as if I knew her already.
After school, we walked to the library,
talking and laughing like old pals.
We had so much to talk about,
like whirling kaleidoscopes of color.
Somehow, religion came to our minds.
Opinions and ideas walked gently
to the surface. A bubbling, shy secret crept
between her embarrassed lips.
I was confused, then all at once excited.
I painted the sky with my eager questions,
and she answered them, stars falling out
of her mouth.
My life changed at that moment.
The butterfly in my heart opened
its yellow wings, and took flight.
The desire to learn everything about
this spirituality rattled my being
and colored the concrete with flowers.
I checked out books, I searched the net.
My mind opened, a thousand dragonflies
spilling into the gusting wind.
The path of my life took a different route
that unsuspecting sunny day.
I knew nothing of what would befall
as I walked down that path,
as I danced down that path,
candles flickering and incense smoke waving.
I thought only of the words
and the feelings that my twirling hands
and searching eyes
invoked within me in that moment.
The altar sitting before me in my room
has gone through many changes;
and yet, it remains the same.
The items that I consider sacred
glow in the soft candlelight.
I can feel the Divine around me
and within me.
I look back on this path that started that day
in middle school with a girl I barely knew,
and I take one more step down it.
The magick and the beliefs of this spirituality
permeate my life.
I sigh, and surrender once again
to the light, and to the love.
Blessed Be.
