pagan soul: my lost ones

Poem by Melanie Flores

god of fire

god of rain

my ancestors made offerings to you

to keep the fires burning

god of sky

god of war

you watched humanity from the

highest branches of the mighty oak

demon god,

shapeshifting trickster,

thwarted by the god of light

as you tried to invade the oak

goddess of spring

goddess of winter

emerge with buds, sleep with snow

in the ongoing cycle of life

my long-lost ones

gave offerings

to these pagan gods

vowed sacred oaths

for protection

prayed for posterity

the women

that were the mothers

of my mother’s mothers

are long gone

but coursing

through my veins

the men

that were the fathers

of my father’s fathers

are lost in time

but imprinted

on my DNA

they are my gods

and I wouldn’t be here

without them

they must have struggled

as humans do

but they survived

ancient beliefs

anchored by customs

celebrated

through the ages

penetrate my cells

seep into my soul

the tears and fears

of my lost ones

are mine to embrace

their predilections

form the pigment

of my essence

god of here

god of now

see the pagan soul of my lost ones

perpetuated in my son

etched by time

molded through lineage