Champion

There is a part of me,

   the deepest part, the base, the source,

     that splashes up with fountain force

       beyond my petty rights and wrongs

         From heart to head to high beyond

            in flights of sparkling rainbow light

              The real me that’s completely free

                  The One I was before my birth

                      The One I’ll be when done on earth

that sees behind the twists

    of greed and shallow,  

        wanting, waiting,

            murky shadow,

               harsh berating,

Past this flimsy, tired drama

     to where I’m breathing deep within,

         to where my very life arises

            Quiet far beneath the din

               Sheltered, safe, past disguises:

                 The tender, gentle, warming presence of no limits,

                     Boundless size, immeasurable, with no agenda

                         Always giving, always full

                             Growing greater as I grow still

                                 Expressed as me, expressed as you,

                                    Compassionate, tireless, and true

Impervious to heat and cold,

   Unaffected by grief, never ill,

        Unable to lie, deceive, or cheat

            and never ever needs a pill.

    Though some say I’ve peaked—that I’m over the hill—

        I’m healthy, hearty, original.

           I’m timeless, expanding, picking up steam

               for I know what is beyond this dream

                   of time and tears and too many machines:

A crisp and startling sunlit day

   where I rise in strength, never fade away

       where the true embodiment of me

           flies beyond this stifling room

             to the place that is called Now

                 beyond the knowing and the schemes

                     Bursting out in glowing space

                        Whirling in a graceful dance

                            of spinning spirals,

                                dull foundations of this dream

                                    shaken away with sudden ease.

Home at last.

    Here.  Now.

       I am complete, steady, whole.

          A champion of love, undefeated.

By Kelly Athena, Dancing Heart book

Art by Kelly Athena