Come through the whitethorn
But stay awhile and look
Look at the petals and
Look at the thorns
Look closer at the spindly branches
For there is a story tangled up in there
I bloom before the leaves are ready
To catch the first Spring’s sunlight gift
From our Sun god star
Before anyone else
I am ready
Look closer
See the blackthorn grows enmeshed in me
To step between the white and black thorns
Is to step into the Otherworld
Peopled with faeries and elves and goblins and trolls
And spirit animals and ancestors and the blueprint of ourselves
Each journey begins with a single step
So make it a beginning of worth
Humble and sacred
Beautiful and fearful
See what the pathway brings to you
As you journey through the black and white
Thorn and blossom, both
Returning from someplace is a great mystery
We have stepped into the Otherworld
Collectively
We want to come home
But the Initiate knows there is no home
Once the black and white thorns have been passed through
We look instead for belonging
To know when the journey has turned full circle
