far above rubies

when one slips from girlhood into womanhood

it is a mystery, an ancient rite unspoken but acknowledged

in your heart there is a higher call, a larger purpose

a twice-infinite horizon

there is all the time in the world

yet not enough in a moment

inside you are yearning, stretching

delving new caverns into the matrix of your being

finding new rooms into which to expand

there in the center is the molten ruby heart

bubbling and roiling with the joy and ache

of being a woman

so it has been since eve’s first daughter slipped the coils of childhood

so it was for me, and my mother, and her mothers ad infinitum

and so one day it will be too for you

dear daughter yet a-twinkle in the eyes of my heart

i am still learning the beautiful breaking and the grave joy

intrinsic to being a woman and who the woman is i am becoming

i await your longed-for unveilings