High Priestess sits before the threshold, staring into time
Behind her eyes the threads of fate unweave and form again
Austere, remote, and cool she seems to any who approach
Who cannot tread the unseen path nor speak in secret tongues
Half in the light and half in dark, she stands between two worlds
The shadows of the past extend to touch the gleaming hope
The dream she knows is vision true but not within her grasp
She cannot bridge the gap between herself and Empress plush
A catalyst must spark her fire to alchemize the change
A man of truth and learning keen, unfazed by what she Sees
Who wants her more for what she is, not less, and not despite
A man who sets her soul ablaze by courting first her mind
And thusly makes her feel alive in ways she never has
I seek a man with such a mind and lonely, yearning heart
My raven man, who finds my dreams, and flies beneath the moon
For you alone am I the Empress, willing, soft, and warm
With you alone I’d brave that fire; with you alone I’d stay
The Astronomer
I want to know each star within the galaxy
Of you, to measure its coordinates and map
Its place amidst the whole, then calculate degree
Of luminosity by noting every gap.
I want to learn the constellations you have found,
To see your sky as through your eyes, then offer you
My own interpretation of the chart. Not bound
To your perspective, I can show you you anew.
I want to watch the slow and swirling dance unfold
Across the span of time, to spot the patterns in
Your lights so I can also track the changes told
By shifting stars: some reignite while others dim.
I want to spiral in and reach your very heart,
To slip between your arms and come to rest at last,
To rearrange your gravity with my soul’s mass,
Fixed at your center, now, the one unmoving part.
~Elena Nola
2022
May 2023 bring you
Falling star wishes
The words you need most
Successful completion of projects begun
And winning cards in the hands that matter
2021
May your fire burn a little bit brighter May the stars seem a little bit closer May joy dance a little bit nearer May the night feel a little bit shorter ~Elena Nola, December 2021
Perfume No. 9, Bvlgari Black
(alternative) Originally published as "October" in the October 2018 edition of Conscious, the zine. Smoke softening the chilly air With memories of fire The perfume rising from my chest In perfect complement Vanilla, spice, and Lapsang Souchong Today smells like my soul Sweet and dark and burning off The things it doesn't need ~Elena Nola, October 2017
A Man Who Calls Me Darlin’
I want a man who calls me darlin' Whose roots touch mine Not the same soil, but the same shade Close enough to drink from the same ground water I want a man who has two hearts One for each of mine Art and dirt, or roots and sky Close enough to speak the same dialect of difference I want a man who takes me dancing Whose steps match mine Who lets me come and go in rhythm long developed Close enough to flying to call it the same name I want a man who calls me darlin' -Elena Nola
Blue Moon
The moon rose yellow against a Confederate sky Like some wasted sun, its core collapsed, Anemic light a harbinger of change. But dying sun is brilliant moon; It shone brighter than reflection, A ring of white around its edge entire, Almost a corona. Almost like it burned. ~Elena Nola
Wings of Fire
Wings of fire Let it burn, let it burn Let it burn away what isn’t me Walk through life Let it burn Walls ignite Let it burn, let it burn Let it burn away Reality falls Let it burn That cage is gone Let it burn, let it burn Let it burn away what isn’t me -Elena Nola, August 2021
Sicily
Perfume poem thirteen, Sicily by D and G.
Originally published in Conscious, the zine, 2018.
Summer smells of Sicily Soap and sand and soft focus lens Glimpses of the world through sighing gauze The languid light of lingering sun Below the horizon but still kissing the sky Clinging to the blue with lover's loathing of farewell And to the air a flower opens Its swelling sweetness tension in the dusk A breath of life renewed with day's decline Too gentle to compete with harshest heat But counting down the rays till soft can shine Perfect moment plucked from time Like ripened fruit still warm to touch Awaiting what comes next While yet complete within itself The stillness between two memories Perhaps the strongest note of all
Sonnet for blackbird
Originally published in Conscious, the zine, 2018.
She furled her wings in gravity's embrace And watched the blue horizons meld - no line Between the sky and sea, one world erased As water covers blackbird in its brine. Surrounded by aquatic life she longs To be a fish, because it's all she sees. Forgetting flight, and wingbeats' subtle song, She rides the surface, banned from swimming deeps. Nor fish nor fowl, she struggles to relate To either them, or self, or life: a ghost. She cannot see potential lost but hates Her muted voice and salt-caked feathers most. Facades decay and warp as they suppress; The strongest parts will always manifest. -Elena Nola
Elena Nola, Poet 