But in the end, The Empath
defeats herself with self-doubt,
and accepts the dark heart
of this unkind kindred as her own.

Marrying into their lost family,
she grows great with child, and so too,
with magical power.

Power that eclipses her empathy, the gift
with which she was born, and for which
the dark ones hunted her down.

II.
Outside ancient castle ruins, members
of her true family anxiously await The Empath.
Await this visit from she whom they so carefully
persuaded with generous bribes and subtle spells.

Beneath the barest slice of moon, one
of her relations paces trailing shadows and dust;
another gathers wild herbs and flowers
with which to greet her; and yet another
stands alert beside a massive grey steed,
silently beseeching The Deities
that there yet be time to rescue her
from the lost ones.

III.
Our Empath arrives in a flash of magic.
How beautiful she is!
An ebon-haired goddess in the envious darkness,
accompanied by six false sisters
in their limp pale gowns.

Six deaf sisters who cannot hear
even the clamor they make
as they screech and flap hungrily
around her, bloodless magpies
drawn by her glamour.

Our Empath raises one hand
in abrupt dismissal
and the false sisters disappear.

Such power! If only it could be
turned to healing her heart!

Our own hearts are leavened with hope
as she smiles at us, the hand of dismissal
resting at her side.

"I have now
what I did not know
I wanted," she says.

She cups her other hand
over the full moon of her belly
and looks tenderly down.

Sharp hope courses through us.

When those eyes we have so missed
are raised to ours again, what
decision will we see there.

Will she leave with us,
will she take the wild ride down the rivers
of our shared blood, back to her own heart?

Or will she stay.

--------
Patricia Grace Kelly
Pegasus Dreaming: http://www.suite101.com/myhome.cfm/PegasusDreaming - Creatively exploring dream, poetry, and Tarot symbols so that they may inspire and nurture our deepest selves.