Today we continue our early spring theme, Inspiration, where we showcase examples of the poetic imagination flowing from the depths of the universe through the minds and hands of Naturalistic Pagans and friends.

Author’s note: One of the things that has drawn me to Paganism is that it embraces both the divine feminine and the divine masculine. I tend to see this duality playing itself out nearly everywhere in nature. This poem was inspired by an early morning drive through the countryside in late October, just as the sun was coming up.

photo by Meg Pauken

“Gaia’s Lovers”

Gaia’s breath lingers, misty, in her hollows
On a chilly October morning;
Sighs as geese rise from her pond,
Honking and flapping.
Stirring slowly as her lover arrives over the horizon:
Sun, casting a golden flush on her curves,
Russet blush on her tree-covered peaks.
Warming, she arches to the sky
Urging her mate to kiss her, to lie with her, to love her.
His heat and light caress her,
Settling, at last, into her valleys.
They spend this cloudless day entwined
Until, at dusk, he begins his leave-taking
Lingering as long as he can until
Luna takes his place.
Gaia’s night-time lover
Brings a shiver with her silvery touch;
Erotic and intense,
Their love is as mysterious as night
And as shy as the creatures that live in it.
Sun comes and goes each day,
Strong and true.
Luna waxes and wanes,
Lingers late and reappears in mid-afternoon.
And Gaia loves them both.

The Author

Meg Pauken is a writer, former lawyer and mother of two living in rural northeastern Ohio, USA. Raised as a Roman Catholic, she is a Unitarian Universalist and has felt the call of paganism since her childhood. She blogs about family and spirituality at Tales from the Sandwich Chronicles.

See Meg Pauken’s other posts.