ancestral stories

what the body remembers before the truth catches up

tea leaves in a cup

Fragments of Catherine

She says they came
to her
to read their future.
She read tea leaves.

She says she went
to her
when she was cold.
Deep to her breast.

They say she held
secrets
her lips sealed.
She did not judge.

Stars say she loved
too deeply
more than her
weary soul
could hold.


Marginalia

Catherine is one of the ancestors I found was imprinted onto my natal chart. She apparently gifted me with intuition, symbolic thinking, spiritual downloads and dream insight. She’s not a fanfare, she’s just there at my side, holding my hand.

I never knew Catherine but when she showed up in my chart, I was intrigued to know more. This poem (if you want to call it that) is the fragments of what I discovered about her. And by now, I wasn’t surprised to find those fragments echoed in her natal chart.

My Nana, however, her daughter could read people as easily as the news. I recall her rocking in her chair when something vexed her, when she knew the truth was being withheld. I can’t recall the exact instances, just the subtle changes in her behaviour.

I thought that everyone had that ability.