“Altar”

Integrity lives, only once it’s found its true continent –
Once all the places you have claimed are unclaimed,
And every language you once spoke is unspoken,
And the face you cannot see is seen
In the eyes of a foreign shore.

When what you have lost you crossed oceans to find
Living in a stripe against the sky,
When there’s no final edge to fall from,
Just an endless, rounded rise.

When ancient ritual is carried back to your own holy altar,
When every piece you gathered along the way is sacred,
And even scraps are buried on bended knee,
Then, light the candle in the center of your one true home.

For once the fragments of the life that you have chosen
Are placed in circles ‘round the flame
What you didn’t choose remains as spark and wonder
Rising to the great unclaimed, where you will meet again.