Invocation to the Spirit of Inspiration

Introducing: Jo Waterworth, a poet and ceramic artist who has lived in Glastonbury for over twenty-five years. She has had stories, poems and articles published over the years but keeps avoiding ‘success’ in case it changes her life. She also sings with an award-winning community choir.


INVOCATION TO THE SPIRIT OF INSPIRATION

Come to me gently, like a soft breeze caressing my neck.
Let me feel you as a lover
kissing my body on every sensitive skein of skin.
Run your fingers through my hair.
Fill my in-breath with scent – let me smell roses and dung,
river banks and hot dry sting of deserts.
Fill my out-breath with warmth, with moisture for weeping,
and for watering new growth.
Lift my soul like a thermal so I may soar,
circling far above the earth with clear vision.
Hold me on light wings, outstretched to sense
every nuance and shift in current.
Blow me to new places where I might settle like dust,
barely visible but covering everything.
Blow me through trees and mountains,
across lakes and oceans, into distant cities.
Blow me through time itself –
wreck my life if you must.
I will give myself to you, trust in you,
use you wisely, recognize you in others,
lead others into your ways.
I will experience you fully, all my senses wide open to you,
greatest of lovers.
I will give my mind to you,
every hidden crevice, every forgotten drawer,
every creaking floorboard.
I will invite you to inhabit the cathedral of my mind;
I will make effigies of you for others to worship;
I will sing hymns to you with harmonies divine;
I will sit in silent contemplation waiting for your presence.
I will marry myself in your sight, and keep faith with my vows.
I will name you a thousand-fold, heap praises upon you,
and breathe in your grace until my last expiration
when I hope to be joined with you in everything.                                            

JMW 06-12