Body of Knowledge

by Penney Peirce

Down in the body of knowledge,

immersed beneath the waters,

buried under the soils,

dissolved into granules of air,

moving to the songs of heat and cold,

I eat the bread and am eaten.

I am the twin who isn’t asleep, but is waiting

as the snake, coiled far below.

Down, down under the pen,

below the importance of the word,

I dive

into the world where harmony holds us together

and life shifts naturally without description.

I am the silent python with no eyes, ready to release power

and the black jaguar of the night sky, body of stars,

leaping to the north and rising on a cold draft of light

as the white eagle, effortless on the arctic wind,

its piercing cry reaching to the heart of the Mother,

sending the sound:

“The Father Is with You.”

I am the earth then, sighing her peace up into mountains,

groves of pine, baking deserts, buzzing jungles,

into birds floating over moving mists and raging waters.

I am the cocreation of soul and sun,

star rays shine each to light a cell.

I am unable to separate from this body of knowledge,

from stone, fire, water, wood, wind, west, north, south, east,

inside, outside, above, below,

animal, angel, or kin.

www.penneypeirce.com