Before The Day My Flesh First Knew Poem by Patti Masterman

Before the day my flesh first knew
Whose face is bent upon my own
When time and tides were swimming fish
And the mountains newly hone
And time served up in timeless dish
And flesh with ruby blood was sewn.

Before the watered silk was washed
And stretched upon time's lengthy rack
When wardrobes of the earth were lost
And tongues once strayed went off the track
We learned our hands to stay the task
And trusted fate would bend our backs.

We camped in dreams, and took our rest
In living clouds, by lightnings crossed
World was, when we went undressed
And though the loathsome winds might talk
The larger life, unmanifest
Was present there in flesh; embossed.

Time moved in rhythms much too slow
And blocked our vision's hapless hues
The hawk's call changed into a crow
Who flew the calling days too soon
Our portion then was never known
And trouble lurked behind the moon.

Our young were formed of air and seed
They came in fright, they stayed to live
Because of soul's obdurate need
For matter in the soil did grieve
An earthly house the creatures seek,
The earthly gods by flesh reprieved.

Before the day my flesh first knew
Whose face is bent upon my own
I cast my lot among the few
Who all the sad earth trod, alone
But in your eyes, found there a clue
To let me know that I was home.