By the Wheel Gate

BY THE WHEEL GATE
a book of haiku and tanka
by Lief Myeras-Silvermoon

01. contents.
02. foreword.
03. a profusion: summer.
17. a wilting: autumn.
29. a death: winter.
41. a renascence: spring.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

foreword.

Why does this book begin in summer?

Because summer is when I started writing it.

"By the Wheel Gate" tells the story of a year in my life, a year in
Serenwilde beneath her shaded boughs. These are my joys, my loves, my
wishes; these are also my failings, my hypocrisies, my desires. Many
things have happened these past months. I became one piece of my Lady
and Muse. I have felt powerfully for other people, and I have felt fear
for them in kind. I have found courage in weakness, and I've found so
many other things besides.

It was a year lived well and a year learned well.

Thank you to everyone who humoured me by allowing me to gift my poetry
to you over these seasons. Never question how deep my adoration for you
runs.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

a profusion: summer.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Budding summer blooms:
A panoply of colour
Wends its way through you.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Avechary,
Breathe earth's loamy redolence.
Like a sunflower,
Let the open skies warm you.
Let your inner truth unfurl.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Through the cattail reeds,
Beneath pond's rippling surface,
Hidden from your eyes--

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Humidity's reign:
A tyrant overbearing,
Air too thick to breathe.
Violence, sweet violence,
Yet through it blooms an iris.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

What if up was down,
And we floated upside down,
Sky a fecund earth?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Summertime madness:
Thousands of floral wishes
Bloom in defiance.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

While away with me
These lazy summer evenings,
Nectar on our lips,
Music at our fingertips,
Shaded by woodland splendour.

Ask not for secrets,
For those things grow best at night,
Nor ask me for mine:
My tongue is a stubborn thing,
Drunk on honey-riddled wine.

These are simple joys
Shared best with the setting sun:
Music and a dance,
Fingertip to fingertip,
And fireflies to guide us.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The full moon rises
Over sweltering midnight,
Her domain outlined
With argentine, Dvarshian light
And prayers, singing, take flight.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The river babbles
An invitation to swim,
To sink in her depths.
Do I heed her tempting call?
Lungs filled with water, I breathe.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Inside the lotus,
Hidden tight in an embrace:
Unfurl each layer,
Petal by petal, until
You claim your soul's central truth.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Here, a crown for you,
Daisies twined together tight,
Lest they fall apart.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Lavender fields,
And crickets singing at night -
Summertime omens.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The storm bothers me -
In just one strike of lightning,
I can see my heart.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

a wilting: autumn.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Harvest time has come -
A time for joy, and for fear.
What seeds have I sown?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As autumn leaves dance
In their swirling veil of hues,
I reach out for you -
But with her chilliest touch,
Autumn robs your warmth away.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Rain fogging branches
Dewing upon changing leaves
Misting forest's floor:
Here's where mysteries -
Here's where histories live true.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As nighttime draws close,
Ever longer, ever cold,
I offer you this:
My soul to light your darkness -
My blood to ignite your joy.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Trees pregnant with fruit,
Plump and ripe for the taking -
How can I help but
Help myself to one of them?

It didn't belong to you.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As darkness descends,
Come ignite a flame with me:
My breath is humid,
Misting before our faces,
Culling the silence between.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Gold and crimson mulch -
A blanket for the cold earth,
An airy cushion
For my head, dizzy, empty,
Drunk on reminiscing dreams.

Your eyes were for me.
Where do they wander to now?
Where do you wander?
Is my heart a verdant grove,
Or is my heart a prison?

Love: sweet and bitter,
Like fallen leaves which litter
The ground beneath me.
Their colours adorn my path,
But I cannot rescue them.

Still, I ponder them:
Is there one worth trying for?
One frond I can save?

I touch one leaf, heart inflamed,
And feel it crumple apart.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Come join me, spinning
Beneath apple trees, singing
Our sweet harvest song.
I take fruit between my teeth -
My sickle is bright and sharp.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I pluck a patient
Purple aster from the earth
And wonder at it -
Its petals, arrayed, entice
One to tear wishes from them.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See the celosia,
Colourful, spiked, defiant,
Burst up from the earth.
Like fires to wicks, they burn;
Like fires to wicks, they fade.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A horn trumpets low
And long, shattering the peace
Of autumn's first snow.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

a death: winter.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the dead of night,
As a flurry of snow falls,
I leave bloody prints.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A new year beckons:
Everything is killed, a fresh
Perspective gifted.

A new year hearkens:
Silence, once so peaceful, now
Is overbearing.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

After the blizzard,
When all is painted iv'ry,
I take a step, and...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

From above, the rime
Looks almost like leaves, hoarfrost
Glittering, sparkling.
On my wings, ice starts to burn,
Turning me to leaves in kind.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The moon in all her
Motherly glow crests treetops.
Her pale light is cold -
Her absence is even colder.
I stumble through blackened paths.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

White - how crisp, how cold
The colourless snow can seem.
It is a canvas:
The red of life dashes it;
Wind sculpts it as a forest.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Footprints in the snow,
Wandering through the pine trees:
They lead me to you.

Isolated, worlds apart,
Who will tend our frozen hearts?

Deer will find their mates,
Wolves will run beside their pack
While bears hibernate -
Surviving these hungry times,
What things does this songbird lack?

Even Ellindel
Kept warm with winter's coming.
Even Goddesses.

I seek sacred communion -

I scatter my seeds and die -

Sacrificing blood,
And life, I hold fast to faith:
My harvest will come.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The Forest hushes:
No sound breaks the trees. I, too,
Linger quiescent,
Frozen to my very bones.
I am strong enough to break.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I put my foot on
The lake's thick, glossy ice, and
Feel it start to crack.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hidden in the white,
A single snowdrop unfurls,
Shy, yet self-possessed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Winter: a frozen
Death, an icy dream, but look -
A seed grows below.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

a renascence: spring.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When will the snows melt?
It's been an eon since the
Earth has seen the sun.
Though my roots are frozen, my
Eager branches start to bud.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A grey, dreary rain
Thawing frozen, icy snows
Melts the chill away.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How sweet is the song
First sung at dawn's breaking light?
How easy it is
To forget yearning for life -
The passerines remind me.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Before the greenest
Shoots of grass begin to sprout,
They, too, were a dream.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A subtle sound of
Cracking seeds and bird egg shells
Fills the morning air.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Steadily humming,
Industrious honey bees
Forage for sweetness.
I do the same, kneeling in
The tulip gardens, breathing.

I watch them bobbing
Lazily, heavy with the
Burden of their fruits,
Nectar in their bellies full -
A bounty for the whole hive.

Then ruby-throated
Hummingbirds appear above,
Emerald flashes
Amongst fragrant, blooming trees -
Their chicks nesting in the boughs.

Could I be like them,
A sister or a mother
Providing for home?

Or am I like the flower,
My love a nectar offered,

Not hunted, nor robbed -

Is it enough to just be?
One more time, I breathe.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A pair of rabbits
Poke their twitchy noses out,
Then bask in sunlight.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I watch the river
As a trickle becomes more -
As it remembers.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The pond surface breaks:
Below, a rush of colour
Parts and meets again.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

See the world arrayed
Behind a raindrop's lens, its
Colours prismatic:
Glory in its vastness, and
Hold it in your worthy palm.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Spring is the shortest -
A host of life awakens
As you catch your breath.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

As sleeping wolves rise
Up; as the squirrels awake; as
Wobbly fawns learn their
Feet, as I, too, clamber - cry,
"Basala'oren, Seren!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-