Joanne Cucinello

How can spring arrive when I´m still hibernating?
How can it come while I´m nestled in my cave
learning to get comfortable for once in the dark
painting images of Woman on the walls?
All the years before came forward in disguise
a masquerade of litanies convincing me
that I was something else.

Yet, this year was different
winter came with footprints that I followed
as mine from long ago
dug deep in the hard cold blanket of my mind.
I found the cave I´d left too soon back then
when I was young and small as seed
yearning to know more
about the flame within my heart.

So tell me . . . how can I leave behind
the pearls I´ve just discovered
when I´ve only just begun to see my soul?
I´ll never find this cave again in springtime
hidden under lovely flower blooms
and that image on the wall
reflecting Adam´s rib . . .
the shadow of a Woman Rising.