July Anomalies A – Z: Phoenix

Hail, thou Becoming One!
Hail! Red-gold Bird of Dawn!

He comes not often into this land;
he comes but seldom,
at the end of 500 years
to build a nest
upon the Altar of Paradise.

With patience, molds an egg
of myrrh and oil
and drops within its shell
a feather of his own.

Then placing the incense
upon the altar
he is consumed by the flames;
and the smoke of the incense
mixed with the prayers of the saints
ascends up before God.

Hail, thou Becoming One,
risen with healing in your wings!

After three days, a wind
that blows the ash and soot away
to reveal a worm
that will grow
and take on feathers
and assume his former shape again.

Thus to live forever
with the Name
that spoke his name
at the Sun’s first dawning.

This is part of July Anomalies A-Z, a creative writing exercise and not intended to be an altogether accurate picture of the creature described above.