Do you know that the ancient Irish
believed the dead withdraw westward over the sea
with the setting sun? Do you know that they
believed in an afterlife reincarnation
the dead transforming           human animal
inanimate?

Did you ever watch the sun go down
over the water, everything bathed
in golden orange purple peach light?
Boundaries blurred, water and sky bleeding
into one? The birds circling one last time
as the day ends? At the water’s edge,
I call you, chant your name,
drum up druid woman-blood,
seer-woman blood, priest-woman blood,
see-the-future-and-the-other-side
with-leaves-and-feathers-blood

druid-woman, seer-woman,
I chant your name, I call you to me.

I step into the water, your name on my lips, the dying
light gilding my bare flesh. I take one step.
Another. Do you know your name
means to descend? I call you, call
you. I am coming, I am coming.
No matter your new form, I am coming.

Do you know that the ancient Celts believed a woman
could tempt a man with singing a silver branch an apple 
the promise of love to bring him to her?

I am coming

I am singing your name

What will it take to tempt you back to me

What will it take