stripping and putting on

 

I always felt like a bird blown through the world.
I never felt like a tree.

I never wanted a patch of this earth to stand in,
that would stick to me.

I wanted to move by whatever throb my muscles
sent to me.

I never cared for cars, that crawled on land or
air or sea.

If I rode, I'd rather another animal: horse, camel,
or shrewd donkey.

Never needed a nest, unless for the night, or when
winter overtook me.

Never wanted an extra skin between mine and the sun,
for vanity or modesty.

Would rather not have parents, had no yen for a child,
and never felt brotherly.

But I'd borrow or lend love of friend. Let friend be
not stronger or weaker than me.

Never hankered for Heaven, or shield from a Hell,
or played with the puppets Devil and Deity.

I never felt proud as one of the crowd under
the flag of a country.

Or felt that my genes were worth more or less than beans,
by accident of ancestry.

Never wished to buy or sell. I would just as well
not touch money.

Never wanted to own a thing that wasn't I born with.
Or to act by a fact not discovered by me.

I always felt like a bird blown through the world.
But I would like to lay

the egg of a world in a nest of calm beyond
this world's storm and decay.

I would like to own such wings as light speeds on,
far from this globule of night and day.

I would like to be able to put on, like clothes,
the bodies of all those

creatures and things hatched under the wings
of that world.

-by May Swenson
-----

Hi Folks, There's something about this poem I identify with.  I dream a lot about flying.  But it also confuses me.  I don't think I understand the end. 

Parts of this poem led me to read about my astrology sign this morning, Gemini, which I do periodically.  My birthday, by the way, is 6/7/67.  Cool, no?  I had my chart read once and it was really fascinating and I do believe there is truth in it.  Do you?  I am absolutely restless and mutable.  I can be critical of others.  I love to learn.  It's true that I am both sympathetic and detached.  Full of contradictions.  This one bit made me stop and think, "Your emotions are on a more mental than feeling level."  Not exactly a compliment but I can see truth in it.  I also do enjoy people but at heart I am independent.  This can be a challenge.

So have you ever had your astrological chart read?  What do you think about it and what are your defining characteristics?

PS- the photo is of Siberia in summer.