5 Ben
Red Overtone
Skywalker
Whenever Eros flies
There, too, are Nine---
Daughters of Zeus
And Mnemosyne*
*Mnemosyne: Cultural memory in Greek mythology;
also, mother of the nine Muses: Kleo; Thalia; Erato; Euterpe; Polyhymnia;
Calliope; Terpsichore; Urania; Melpomene.
©Kleomichele Leeds
4 Eb
Yellow Self-Existing
Human
You touch my Thigh---
My eyes close as I
awaken
To Feelings found
again
Love---Joy---Terror
Flood my Heart
Change is on the
Wing---
From Innocent to
Woman---
Psyche’s archetypal
Journey
Hidden like a Flame
beneath the Sea.
©Kleomichele Leeds
3 Chuen
Blue Electric Monkey
Hymn to
Polyhymnia*
Invade my Soul, dear One---
Transform my Heart and Mind---
Let neither Fear nor bastard Thought
Deceive or me unconscious find---
Disperse thy Self throughout my self
Each Cell a fractal Entity---
Of Quantum Grace---
Magnetic Field
Celestial Deity.
*Polyhymnia: One of the nine Muses, goddesses of poetic inspiration, Polyhymnia serves as the Muse of sacred song.
©Kleomichele Leeds
2 Oc
White Lunar Dog
My Spirit falls---shattered
by
Barricades more solid than
Any mortared Brick might
fuse---
Unwittingly I
descend
Into the seventh
Hell
Of lusty Phrases
worn with Use
Divorced and
desperate, I came here
To seek my Self---observe and grow
Beyond the vapid
Realm of Mediocrity---
Cradled by sweet
Reason, my Soul
Reclaims itself into
a Structure girded
Well against satanic
Mockery
You caressed my
Body’s Curves and Spaces---
The trembling of my
Womb
Held you closely dark,
and deep---
In loving you, my
Spirit grew half-strong---
Giddy with Delight
to reach
The Height of
long-forgotten Dreams
But Night and you
together
Blasphemed my sacred
Peace---
The Wish to love
became the Wish to please---
Betrayed by a shallow
Light behind your Eyes
I lay shrouded in
Deception---
I stumbled then but
again will rise.
©Kleomichele Leeds
1 Muluc
Red Magnetic Moon
I have lain with you
And qualify, therefore, like Orpheus
To visit you in the Land of Death---
Your battered Defenses protect you still---
Hiding Grief and Pain unbearable
As you transform within a Cradle of Grace
I cover you as would an Angel---
With Love and sacred Wisdom
Your Wings are mere buds on your Spine---
Made supple by stretching and shivering
Like the hibernating Arctic Fox
In the winter of your Death
You reached for me, your Eskimo---
I dragged your screaming psyche
Into another Place---a warmer Space where
You might breathe again
I bear the ecstasy of Mysteries
Borne on the back of Agony---
The Price of Initiation.
©Kleomichele
Leeds
13 Lamat
Yellow Cosmic
Star
Klotho*- spin your
golden Thread
Upon the silver Star
At the Center of my
Forehead---
Open wide my virgin
Vein
With New Moon’s
Sickle---Scythe
Call forth my Poetry
to arise
Like Pegasus** from
Medusa***
Wingèd, beautiful, and
wise.
*Klotho: The first of three Fates
or Moirae in Greek myth; she spins the thread of life.
**Pegasus: A white, winged steed
who sprang from the body of Medusa; patron of the Muses, goddesses of art and
poetry.
*** Medusa: A queen of ancient
Lydia whom the goddess Athena transformed into a serpent-haired Gorgon.
©Kleomichele Leeds
12 Manik
Blue Crystal Hand
The winter lives
In Death’s apparent
frozen Sleep---
Dreamless Days march
one against another
Like Soldiers gone
to Battle
Each fiercer than
its Brother
Layered Depths of
Frost
Upon a lifeless Tree
Assume the Chill of
loneliness
In Nature’s vast
Decree
Of Dormancy and
cruel Duress
The Cycle of a
Season’s Rest---
The Time when all
Things lay
Beneath sweet
sugared Snow
Which knows no
Corner
Where it cannot go.
©Kleomichele Leeds
11 Cimi
White Spectral
World-Bridger
Death surrounds me
now
I swim in the
Underworld
Lower than Low –
Down in the Depths
Of the Darkness
I drown –
Nothing
Is there
In Xibalba*---
Only the Ache
In my Heart.
*Xibalba is
described in the Maya sacred text, Popol Vuh, as a court below the surface of the Earth associated with death and with twelve
gods or powerful rulers known as the Lords of Xibalba.
©Kleomichele Leeds
10 Chicchan
Red Planetary
Serpent
As she melts upon my
Tongue
I swallow down the
full Moon whole
She settles in my Belly
while
I drink the Wine of
Kingdom come
She takes a silver Ride
inside
Where Flesh had been
until
The Promise of a Woman’s
Life
Fell beneath a surgeon’s
Knife
Scalpel cut the
Sinew and the Nerve
Creating Space
anew---
My Womb is in the
Tomb
But even more is in
its Place
My progeny are Prose
and Poetry
Conceived in the
Soul by Night---
Infants unnumbered
are borne
On glistening Beams
of blue Light.
©Kleomichele Leeds
9 Kan
Yellow Solar Seed
Clouds float by
In grand Procession---
Billowing, pillowing
Wisps of white---
Stately Fortresses of
Mist
Kissing a blue Sky
Shape-shifters all---
Turning Light to
Shadow
Eclipsing both Sun
and Moon---
Silently they pass
en masse
Carrying Prayers on High.
©Kleomichele Leeds
8 Akbal
Blue Galactic Night
In the midnight Fire
Of Winter’s second Moon
I ascend again---again, I rise
To ask for Blessing
In the midnight Fire
A full Moon blazes----
Fear disappears
In a Prayer for Love and Peace
In the midnight Fire
Of the midnight Hour
My heart’s Wing
Reaches for my Beloved
A full Moon burns
Hot in the frozen Sky
Stars shine without light---
Tears become
Pearls of great Price.
©Kleomichele Leeds
7 Ik
White
Resonant Wind
I hear the Call
From an Eastern Gate---
From ruby Roses on the Vine
Lightning flashes Foot to Head
Settling in the Belly---
A slow Burn of wild Desire
I feel a Call
Lifting me from the Desert
Out of Drought into cool Mist---
Gone the dry Brush
Gone the burning Sun
Cool Breezes fly through me
I know this Call---
I’ve heard it before---
Before my Passion deserted me
From an Oasis
Fresh Water flows---
My Thirst is sated, my Hunger gone.
©Kleomichele Leeds
6 Imix
Red Rhythmic Dragon
I descend at the Height
of Day
Mind awake
Eyes
wide open---
I find dead my
Maidenhead---
A Land of Life
strewn with Bones
Dry white Skeletons lying
on Stones---
Life decayed/ Care
delayed
Turns the Landscape
deathly gray
Wind blows through Bones---
Sounding moans, both
high and low
For Years and
Generations
No Family here---
Bones alone
Shame eats the Flesh
of Love---
A gaping Maw of
guilty Acts
Consumes the Meat
that might sustain us---
Furies---Harpies
dive
To take the Smile
from smiling Lips---
A Hand too
frightened to caress
Hits hard and hits
again---
Hearts break open---
Red Rage grows---
Hear the Breeze
Blowing through
Bones---
Too little
Tenderness, too late
Can neither stop the
Wind
Nor alter Fate.
©Kleomichele Leeds
5 Ahau
Yellow Overtone Sun
Bare winter Branches---
Ancient Arms
Reach past Amethyst
Through Blue
Beyond Blue---
Until a Salmon
Pink Horizon
Sets the Sun.
©Kleomichele Leeds
4 Cauac
Blue Self-Existing Storm
When Bombs fall
Babies cannot bear
The Shock---
When Bombs fall
Homes are blown away
Where Children sleep
and play---
Small fragile Bodies
Bleed instantly---
Delicate Skin tears easily
When Bombs fall
Babies’ Eardrums shatter---
They cannot tolerate
The deafening Storm---
Trauma/ Pain/ Blood/
Shock/ Death
Who will save the Babies
When Bombs fall?
©Kleomichele Leeds
3 Etznab
White Electric Mirror
I dance the Dance of Shiva
Pendant in mid-Air---
Creating to Destroy
I make the tall Grass quiver
I dance the Dance of Shiva
Mighty Soul on slender Limb---
I weave a Pattern known
Before the Gates of Eden opened
My Filaments obscure
In the shadowed Night---
Silver Thread invisible save
For Moon’s reflected Light---
Symmetrical and Perfect is my Form
Diamond lit with morning Dew---
I spin and waltz---I whirl and turn
Before my Web is through.
©Kleomichele Leeds
2 Caban
Red Lunar Earth
Sing---blue Globe of Light
Sing each Day---sing each Night---
These phases less Reality
Than merely Shadow-Play
Sing---shimmering Earth -Soul
Sing of a Time just in Time
When the Voice of the Turtle
Is heard in the Land
Sing---holographic Hieroglyph---
Play out the Play which spins
The Fear of Death
Into the Death of Fear
Sing---Elements of Quintessential
Peace
Music---Laughter---Joy---Grace
Sing until all Borders
Fade without a Trace
Sing---cerulean Jewel of Glory
Sailing down a Golden Dawn
Sing---sacred Ground---Sky and Sea
Sing----precious Pearl of Mystery.
©Kleomichele Leeds
1 Cib
Yellow Magnetic
Warrior
You slew the
Messenger---
You killed the Angel
For her Light---
My Love---
When most I needed
you
You murdered me
Outright.
©Kleomichele Leeds
