Little Phial

Between two births,
Nightmares and dreams and visions are all mixed up.
Listen,  I will tell you about a child.

This child assumed many names and forms
Playing and pretending
To deal with the yawning void.

First,
The earth yawned and swallowed the child.

The child lived
But death crouched like a dog drooling in the doorway
While its owner looked aside.
So one night, in a dream, the child clambered into Heaven
Seeking audience against the dog.
“I want to come back,” said the child
And then hung her head while Mary rebuked her.
Mary was very stern.
“You are to go back to complete your call.”

Nightmares and dreams and visions all mixed up
Playing and pretending
To deal with the dog crouching in the doorway.

Mary posted angels.

And the child felt the rejections of mankind
Taking in its bruises and abandonments
Its fantasies and fears. 
Saviors coming in horrible forms
Despised and similarly rejected
And they comforted one another.
We were outcasts together, bound by the blood of our sorrows
Searching for the True Way, the Lost Homeland
Never again to be turned away.

Under pillow of sleep was the one of my hope
She loves those who must go back
And I trusted the unseen
Before I knew how to rebuke the dog.

Living in the light demands two birthings
One to darkness
Nightmares and dreams and visions
All mixed up
And one to the light and the door, to waking and knowing
With power over the dog.