As the full moon began to spread its gilded light across the pink horizon, I clambered up the tower and creaked open the door. Rusty hinges smiling at movement as swallows poured out over the ocean breaking, making their way to far horizons and new shores.

Gently I ventured all the way inside my lionheart. Made my way on soft feet down the long hall, locked doors flying open as my familiar footfalls passed by. I watched as each offered up all that had been protected for so long. Here an old plaster cast and its faded jibes. Smooth bones that still glistened with warm embrace. Faded photographs in ancient frames with tears icicled on the glass. Promises like faded letters whose ink had not stood the test of truth or time. A wedding dress torn into pieces that fluttered out into the night.

I kept going. Felt waters rushing past my ankles, torrents of unshed tears forced to harden when they could not be shed now flowing freely out the door. Thorns stuck in the walls began to loosen under my gaze, the flesh beneath gratefully giving up its firm grip on the pain. Moonlight streamed through every crack and crevice. Breath rushed through me like a warm wind, its tendrils soft across my face.

At the far end I could now make out the sacred chamber, faintly glowing in a syncopated rhythm I recognised as my own. The ancient stones worn smooth by incarnation, the old altar I knew by heart. I tore the cobwebs from its centre as spiders wept in the rafters. Pulled a flint from my pocket as I reset the grid, moving the fever of tiny crystals back into place.

The sky chimed as the lost comet streaked over the face of my mother moon. A beam of green silver arced into the chamber flooding it with light. I sparked the scintilla and set it to burning in the centre, taking on a new glow. Books flew open on dusty shelves and a whirlwind stole the musty film away. Fresh images began to take shape on the walls, riven with hope and promise. I breathed deeper than I ever had and made my way back out into the starry night.

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Words c. Kerrie Basha 2023 for the Leo full moon in Aquarius
My book of tales Morsel is out now