XXI

Any well-cast augury contains riddle, revelation,
& yet another riddle in the dance of the asking & it's answer.

Who makes the sword & cauldron?  The smith is the maker.
Lightning cast in quick eye & sinew, held in the bones.

Fire in the forge, earth in coal & iron, air in bellow's rasping breath,
water for the quenching & the temper, full complement of elements.

Myths of metalcraft & alchemists sustain us,
the marriage of metals, the sword & grail.

Spoken truths of forging the union
uncovered in the original tunes.

we have forged ourselves in this world,
walked through fire again & again,

plunged deep in the water, again & again
striving to find the perfect temper for these blades.

A work of making takes its own time in shaping
arriving only when the time is right.

The myth persists in the sciences,
lightning striking soup to form first life.