for Pauline Eaton

In the beginning Love was so alone in the darkness
only by chance did he know he was there.

In that Time before time,
he discovered that if he whirled like a dervish
feathery bits and pieces of his colossal body
became flames and feathers.
Some had the shape of white linen, others bats.
Farther off, bits of silver and gold
arranged themselves as constellations,
though their great stories had not yet been told.
Theseus had not yet sailed for Crete.

Having never seen himself,
he looked upon this luminous jumble
as simply Other
and called it Friend.

Then, seized by what we would call inspiration,
he let out whoops of joy:

SAL-WAY-TE
WA-LAY-TE

Sound and sense began to attract and repel each other.
In what would seem to us an endless instant
strange figures, stiff as dolls, began to appear.

Love was surprised to discover
his breath could bring them to life.
He was even able to forget
all their laughter and quarreling
were no more than himself.

Soon they vied for his favor,
throwing their own limbs into the fire.
Others burned themselves as torches.
Only then did he stop his spinning
and take up knitting.

He worked seven days, weaving together
scraps of bone and soul, dreaming while still awake,
and then at last fell asleep.
When he woke,
there stood before him a winged Other.
Love called her Anima.
She felt as close to him
as breath to wind.

ANIMA ANIMUS
ANIMUS ANIMA

After each cycle of seven days of waking dreams
he would fall asleep,
and upon waking discover other winged forms.

He named them
Twilight and Shadow,
Dawn and Cobweb,
Shifting Sand,
Trumpet,
Midnight Blue.

They brought him
earth, air, fire, and water
as gifts.
In return,
Love dreamed a world for them.