Missing a lot of Aries women who were important in my life and have passed on…
Burning sun makes for a Baba Jaga noon
Shining across the Carpathians and into Eastern Europe
Warming the people who invented me
I am the Grandmother of Fire
Face covered in red and orange ashes
My house on two chicken legs
Scratching in the dirt
As a wide band of water rushes between them
Gently tipping the mortar that serves
As a flying vehicle
The pestle is my rudder and
Tracks etched in the sky
Are swept away with a white birch broom
I, Fire Woman, toss out water-cleansed herbs
And the people see earth sailing through the air.
No, I do not eat children
That is another fairy tale
From another country
I do have companions:
White horse rider named Day
Black horse rider named Night
Red horse rider named Noon-Time Sun
They decorate the ceiling of my chicken-legged home
Cavorting around the painted firmament
So I do not feel closed in when forced to stay.
Like smoke from fire, though
I can sinuously escape through the chimney
Into the real sky
Absorbing more heat and light by day
More stars and coolness by night
Able to traverse the path
Sidewinding around the Galaxy
By map and compass embedded in my brain.
What is my purpose here?
Yes, you may ask
Fiery wise woman am I
Guidance is all I offer but
I prefer that you ask no questions
I age for each one asked
Only blue rose tea will reverse my reluctance
To answer, when you truly need help
Purity of spirit, and most of all, politeness count
But you must overcome your fear
To ask and then hear
Solutions to feed your burning need to know.
So many false tales about me
I am guilty merely because my preference is
To live alone
In order to think
And be myself
I do not like the image I see
Reflected through others
It is warped and thus murky
Not a true mirror
But no one cares to look deeply into
The mystery of Baba Jaga
Fire Woman, Wise Woman
Who was never a witch or even a clown
Just an old soul trying to translate the Earth
To others…
(c) 2014 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja), Poetry of Memory
IMAGE: Baba Jaga, Russie Virtuel
poeturja 