26 January

altar

i leave them where i find them

on the beach a pile of pretty shells

or 7 heart shaped rocks

placed upon a large flat boulder

once i came across a circle of clam shells

in the light of dawn

as i walked the beach at sunrise

once i saw a bunch of wildflowers and some moss

in the crook of a hollowed out branch

of an afternoon i came upon a field of pure white snow

with the tracks of a small fox making its way across

in the gloaming i lit a candle on the driftwood altar

in my living room 

and placed bit of gray-green reindeer lichen down on it

at this moment a pair of cardinals litter the top 

of the snow on my porch with sunflower seed shells

Perhaps we create altars where ever we go

and leave them behind in our wake

with every exhalation

we offer something to the universe

with every conscience breath

we receive what it offers to us

omnipresent altars 

if we are aware

the pagan experience