Aphrodite Elder

for Hazel Stanley

A seeker once told a sage that he would search the world to find God. The sage replied, “No need. God is right here, right now, and you would see that – if you were here now.”

No Goddess needs entelechy. Becoming is a mortal thing,
Needing work, needing nurture, always needing.
But Goddess brings it whole and pagan pure,
A benison of being, bioenergetic cure,
Light from watery Aphrodite's ways.
“It's about love, here, in this moment, now!” Hazel says,
And she's incarnation of it, all the tales be told.
Imagine her resplendant in Byzantine mural gold,
Centered in communion with those sainted by her most:
Her regal sister, both husbands, a grateful host
Of clients, children, the bright mosaic blending
Of admiring legions thronged, attending
The Hazel Goddess poised to rejoin God in His
Corner, which is Here and Now. Where she is.

View an interview between Joe Wrobel
and Hazel Stanley that served as
the inspiratation for this poem



View Joe Wrobel recording this poem