Daily Signet

Deep down and rooted in the ancestral code of me
the longing for you, O Beloved. 
Deep down and rooted in this habitation of spirit
the longing for you, O Beloved. 
Deep down and rooted into the far reaches of time's infinite spiral
the longing for you, O Beloved. 
And how do I reach you except upon my altar.
And how do I join you except through your fire.
And how do I mix into you except through
the dissolution of that to which I am most attached,
except through the dissolution
of what secures me most, 
except through the dissolution
of what I think most makes me unique. 
Must it be through the smoke and flame of my own ashes? 
Un-join what binds my life now that I might, though still earthbound
enjoin Life unbounded. 
Though it be through the smoke
and flame of my own ashes, 
release this visceral longing that I might, though still separate, 
in spirit reunite as One. 
Though it be through the smoke
and flame of my own ashes. 
unmake what I offer now that I might, though still singular,
be remade into nourishment for you. 

Benjamin Martin

On This Day…

Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning secretly married in London, 1846

Michael Ondaatje born 1943 in Colombo, Sri Lanka: novelist and poet
Works: The English Patient, In the Skin of a Lion, The Cinnamon Peeler
Quotes: “You create characters so you can argue with yourself.” “I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.” “The first sentence of every novel should be: ‘trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you want to get to town’.”