for Magi Pierce
Air, fire, water, earth: each element
matched with a cardinal direction.
Air with the East. The inhale is inspiration,
expanding breath, a promise not yet embodied.
Fire with the South. Breath at the apex,
burning with creation and destruction.
Water with the West. Movement and memory,
the sinking sun, the passing of life.
Earth with the North. Emptiness and eternity,
the ground underfoot, cessation of breath.
The exhalation is the letting go.
The emptiness is what is left.
Think of an ice cube lying
on the ground on a neutral day.
The fire of the focusing mind
fed by the air of the breath
softening ice into water,
melting and moving,
unlocking memory
petrified to habit.
Air, fire, water, earth: each element
matched with a cardinal direction.
Air with the East. The inhale is inspiration,
expanding breath, a promise not yet embodied.
Fire with the South. Breath at the apex,
burning with creation and destruction.
Water with the West. Movement and memory,
the sinking sun, the passing of life.
Earth with the North. Emptiness and eternity,
the ground underfoot, cessation of breath.
The exhalation is the letting go.
The emptiness is what is left.
Think of an ice cube lying
on the ground on a neutral day.
The fire of the focusing mind
fed by the air of the breath
softening ice into water,
melting and moving,
unlocking memory
petrified to habit.
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Anne Whitehouse is the author of poetry collections: The Surveyor’s Hand, Blessings and Curses, The Refrain, Meteor Shower, Outside from the Inside, and Steady, as well as the art chapbooks, Surrealist Muse (about Leonora Carrington), Escaping Lee Miller, Frida, Being Ruth Asawa, and Adrienne Fidelin Restored. She is the author of a novel, Fall Love. Her poem, “Lady Bird,” won the Nathan Perry DAR 2023 “Honoring American History” poetry contest.
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