I am only satisfied when it burns cold
When the brittle edge of the chill
Kisses heat’s searing mouth
To the west, to the east, the north and south
That’s where I’ll be
In that place where extremes merge
In a fusion of simmering electrifying ecstasy,
Gifts are laid at the feet of the Goddess
Atoms swirl and twirl with feverish delight
No place for the faint of heart or, non-believer
A stark towering cliff face rises from the icy inferno
To meet the lucid swell of a restless ocean
A withering clash - a writhing crash
Steaming vapour gushes into an endless azure sky
A moist cloudy plume pierces the great nothing
Black and red and black and orange
As charged coils of energy gaily bounce
from base to crown - into existence they pounce
Bursting with life, simmering with death
Glorious sight to behold, the intake of breath
Then a long slow exhale and all is transformed
In the blink of an eye, the calm and the storm
Where, in the midst I sit, content and replete
Amid splendour and ice, symphony and heat
Dependant arising, a spectator’s humble delight
I am the mountain, that cliff face, the dark and the light.
Ajanta Judd | Poem 2016 | Photo 2022 | All Rights Reserved