HEARTH OF MY HEART by Avellina Balestri

Hearth of My Heart

By Avellina Balestri

Home is calling

Tugging at the heart

Piercing it through

Like a fisherman’s hook

Like a net cast breaking

The skin of the sea

I’m being called home

To the place of belonging

Where the turf fire burns

And the cauldron boils

Where the grail overflows

And time is undone

Find me a thin place

Where water kisses land

Where the seals sing

And the salmon swim

Let my bowl be filled

With nuts and apples

And pour me spiced wine

From the warrior’s horn

Nine maidens to guard my sleep

Nine virtues to guide my path

Blessings on your door posts

And your crosses of Brighid

Welcoming the weary traveler

With a circle cast about me

A star of elements and wounds

Bring bright blessings, old and new

Of earth and water, fire and air

And the blood of God

Love’s royal wine

Drinking deeply

Souls bound fast

Let the winds roar

O circle me round!

I shall find the forest queen

Woodland fae turned Nazareth’s maid

And the bird’s song will sever time

And I will birth the Prince foretold

In Pendragon’s star

A homecoming, again…

To the moments of our waking

Through crystal shafts of healing

I shall find a home

In the hearth of my heart

Turf-fire flickers

In the eyes of strangers

Meeting, gaze to gaze

And Anam Cara is born

We are home to each other

And then, in ink-stained solitude,

I shall find my cell a haven

Where love may grow and stories flow

And I shall wait for the Guest to come

The table will be set

Bread broken, water poured

And the night shall fall

And the candle burn

And its beauty shall blaze all the brighter

In the embrace if the dark.

Avellina Balestri is a Catholic author and editor based in the historic Maryland-Pennsylvania borderlands. Her stories, poems, and essays have been featured in over thirty print and online publications. Saplings of Sherwood, the first book in The Telling of the Beads Chronicles, is her debut novel. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Fellowship & Fairydust, a magazine inspiring faith & creativity and exploring the arts through a spiritual lens. Under its auspices, she hosted a literary conference at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford, England, commemorating the legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien. Her hobbies include listening to and performing folk music, watching and reviewing classic films, and chatting with a zany array of international contacts about everything from theology to fandoms to muffin recipes. Avellina believes that the Trinitarian divine dance and Incarnational indwelling mystery are reflected in all things good, true, and beautiful, and that the image of God is wondrously woven into every human heart, bestowing every person with intrinsic dignity. These themes are at the forefront of the stories she chooses to tell. For more information about the author and her various projects, please visit her website, or connect with her on Facebook writer's page here.

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