2005-01-31T22:58:00.003+11:00

OFFERINGS

Can I offer a few earthly perfections
and the wish they may be of some value to you

a bundle of snow-white feathers
left by the eagle of Winter Solstice
a shape-shifter become winged-soul
in flight to the pole-star
still-point of a turning world

can I offer you three magical stones
at one time deep-core of the earth
gathered from a stream
black obsidian
with special powers to raise the wind

a chant in praise of Mother Earth
or a spell for your well-being
that you may find your heart's desire

can I offer one heavenly March hare
who draws the Sun back out from the ground
a talisman of great good fortune
carried into battle by warrior women

can I offer six bags of ripened corn
the last sheaf cut in ritual tradition
honouring the corn-maiden
shorn queen of the harvest fair

can I offer you twelve sturdy oak trees
soon to bloom with acorn cups
safe shelter they'll provide
with enough left over to build a boat

can I offer you secrets shared
by the summer breeze in from the east
sacred whispers only heard
by those who have learnt how to listen

can I offer you rare treasure
Lapis Lazuli of brilliant blue
heart-shaped, flecked with gold
bound to a camel's back
hauled over deserts from Afghanistan

can I offer you ten bales of good dry straw
roof-thatching, animal feed, ground cover
excellent to lie upon

can I offer you a bowl of fragrant spring-water
from an ancient well frequented by soothsayers
but beware ! travellers are heard to disappear
if approaching in contemptuous manner

can I offer you a thouroughbred cow
with two thousand years of ancestry
worshipped eternally as Goddess of the Moon
she'll bless you daily with milk and cream

can I offer you mustard seeds
measured by the sackful, sharp
strong, with the virtues of Mars
good for some ills, common in the fields
harvested from the beginning of human-time

can I offer you hospitality
my hearth fire, a beaker of soup
mushrooms sprinkled with herbs in season
followed by corn-bread freshly risen

can I offer a few kind words
comfort, generalities, adoration
a song or a poem
of time well spent with you my friend

these earthly perfections freely given
and a wish they may be
of some value to you

Pamela Sidney 1998

OFFERING POEMby MELBOURNE POET PAMELA SIDNEY