Owl Song – a poem by Elder Gideon

Owl Song

To be fully present at the birth 
Or the death of someone is to be aware 
Of a transparent gate, unmoved right there 
In the center of the room. 
Neither its entrance nor exit contradict 
Its space, like the same gradient 
Of sky at dawn and dusk. Life and death, 
Day and night, circulate a gate. 
When this happens means 
As much as what. When can certainly be 
Mere coincidence, a randomness. 
When something happens does link
A chain of events. When can feel 
Predetermined, even fated. Perhaps 
Most mysterious of all, when can seem 
To descend by way of some divine plan. 
How one interprets what happened when 
Is a most volatile power of human will. 

Elder Gideon is the author of “Aegis of Waves” (Atmosphere, 2021) and co-author with Tau Malachi of “Gnosis of Guadalupe (EPS Press, 2017). He’s an alumnus of the 2021 Community of Writers, directed by Brenda Hillman and showing sculpture this fall with Verge Gallery’s Open Studio Tour in Sacramento.