Poem for Friday and Farewell

Now Voyager
By May Sarton

Now voyager, lay here your dazzled head.
Come back to earth from air, be nourish-ed,
Not with that light on light, but with this bread.

Here close to earth be cherished, mortal heart,
Hold your way deep as roots push rocks apart
To bring that spurt of green up from the dark.

Where music thundered, let the mind be still,
Where the will triumphed, let there be no will,
What light revealed now let the dark fulfill.

Here close to earth the deeper pulse is stirred,
Here where no wings rush and no sudden bird,
But only heartbeat upon beat is heard.

Here let the fiery burden all be spilled,
The passionate voice be calmed and stilled,
And the long yearning of the blood fulfilled.

Now voyager, come home, come home to rest,
Here on that long-lost country of earth's breast
Lay down the fiery vision and be blest, be blest.

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Those of you whom I've known for a long time know the many layers of significance this poem has for me. I was thinking that I wanted to leave with a poem about traveling, and this is actually rather a poem about the opposite -- it's about the idea of homecoming, in terms both spiritual and erotic, and it has always hit me hard. It reminds me very much of a fandom that meant a great deal to me at one time, and ironically, though that fandom itself has disappeared from my life, some of my good friends from it are probably reading this page. It also makes me want to write a story in my current fandom because reading it again I could easily apply it to completely different characters than it once brought to mind.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks, Happy Passover and Easter, and save all your fic for me for when I come back!