The Crone

I am the crone.

The woman who knows

that not all endings are losses,

and not all darkness is something to escape.

I have watched parts of myself die,

some willingly,

others torn from me

before I was ready to let them go.

I have grieved what I once was

and made peace with what remains.

Beneath the soil of all I have buried,

new things grow.

Not in spite of what has died,

but because of it.

I know the light,

but I no longer worship it. I know the darkness,

but I no longer fear it.

Both have taught me.

Both have taken from me.

And now, I am the balance between them.

*Approx. 35" L.

Hand Carved Crow from Antler.