It was over a decade ago when I was a guest of Garman Lord and his Folk at the Winland Rice Litha gathering. I was quite taken by the Theodish use of poetry and song within their offerings to the Holy Powers, and within their entertainments. I also learned of the concepts of Poetic Significance and how better to listen to the inspirations around and within me.

One of my fellow AFA members posted a poem to our membership forums and a line really stuck with me: "Memories I never knew." It jogged a bit of a hint of memory from very long ago...

Didn't, then Did - 16 May 2010

In Memories I've never Had
And in the Lore I've never Known
And in the Thoughts, Unborn, Undreamt
I found Myself, my Heart, My Folk

One night I walked, beyond this world
Seeking something, knowing nothing
Looking, I think, for someone who
Could show the way to find my core

The path was dark, the air was thick
As if I fought through wool filled hall
My breath grew short, but steps were firm
To get through this and find an end

My mind was blank of complete thoughts
My heart beat fast, like cadence drum
My spirit lay, like fallow field
Waiting for plough and seed and rain

Who it was, and, what they were
I had no flash, no view, no faith
Yet with each breath, I did have hope
To find those who would Know and Say

My hands punched through into thin air
I found myself upon a lea
Grasses, flowers, beneath blue sky
Twas full sunlight, yet no sun shone

At first no noise came to my ear
Then faintly grew a great horn's call
I followed notes across those fields
Unto a gate set in the air

The posts were pale and shaped like men
The lintel piece was made of bone
The planks, dark red, as if of blood
Were banded by three straps of gold

The fanfare came from close within
Commanding, mournful, joyful, too
Then notes rang out in final peal
Silence fell hard and laid me flat

Then manikins' eyes glowed, dully, bright
They seemed to turn towards the door
Their hands reached out, each grasped a band
And slid the boards into themselves

My wits had fled upon this sight
I lay awestruck, insensate, stunned
But through this fog I still could see
The sky grow dim, as if cloud-filled

A darker shadow flowed o'er me
Twas cast by two who strode from gate
One knelt and placed its hand on mine
The other knelt and touched my brow

This one is young, the first one said
And lost his way, the other spake
He knows a lack and feels a lack
And seeks to find, how to full fill

The time has not yet come for us
To let him in, to fill his heart
His trek has just taken first step
He must be sent back to his life

They raised me up and turned me round
My eyes could not grasp more than glimpse
Man and Woman they seemed to me
But so much more, I felt a spark

His mind is roused came Mannish voice
He starts to wake She did reply
He knows to ask, he knows to think
He'll find his way to where he must

My eyesight cleared and this was gone
I stared into my darkened room
Alone with thoughts of fading dream
Where had I been What had I seen

I drifted off to dreamless sleep
Awoke in with sun and went from there
Outside in world, inside with self
Asking, thinking, seeking, being

And then one night I walked again
Beyond this world unto a place
An Old One sat by fireside
He read my heart and took me in

In Memories I've never Had
And in the Lore I've never Known
And in the Thoughts, Unborn, Undreamt
I found Myself, my Heart, My Folk