Following is a poem written for and recited at the ritual:

"Pilgrimage"
by Sarah Pearlman

I
It gladdens us to see you.
Bones you have found
Beneath our homes
Beads once wound about strong arms
Small stone
Mothers placed on hearths.
Yes
It pleases us to see you
II
We came out of the forest
Leaving caves
To make our homes
Near the sea
Close to the mountains
We were the first
To know abundance
Grain covered fields, fish
Dancing in nets
Trees bent with fruit
We were
The first to harvest
Yes
It so pleasures us to see you

III
We loved this earth
We call the Mother
She gave us abundance
The sea waters gushing
Between legs
Mountain breasts
Snow melting falls
Anointing sacred clefts
Flowers decorate
She is abundance
Yes
It is with joy that
We greet you

IV
Our celebrations were many
Serpentine flutes arousing desire
Two women dance
Bodies oiled Hips circling
Snake like limbs
Coil about each other
Heads bow between legs
To revere the sacred entrance birth passage
Cries of desire fill dark nights
Strong women linger
Fill their lovers
Others mount men
Drawing them inside
Moist earth, wet with dew, opening to seed
Yes
We smile to see you here.

Ritual for Estella Frazer
June 19, 2001, on the Shore of the Aegean
Kusadasi, Anatolia

Welcome

Creation of sacred space apart from ordinary time
A large heart was sculpted in the sand.
White and red flowers were placed upright in the heart.
"Whoever finds love beneath hurt and grief
Disappears into emptiness with a thousand new disguises." Rumi

Intent
To honor the life and passing of Estella Frazer.
To honor anay and anah of each individual.

Invocation of Estella's spirit, and all of our ancestors

Reading, No Room for Form, by Rumi, read by Emily
On the night when you cross the street
from your shop and your house
to the cemetery,

You'll hear me hailing you from inside
the open grave, and you'll realize
how we've always been together.

I am the clear consciousness-core
of your being, the same in
ecstasy as in self-hating fatigue.

That night, when you escape the fear of snakebite
and all irritation with the ants, you'll hear
my familiar voice, see the candle being lit,
smell the incense, the surprise meal fixed
by the lover inside all your other lovers.

This heart-tumult is my signal
to you igniting in the tomb.

So don't fuss with the shroud
and the graveyard road dust.
Those get ripped open and washed away
in the music of our final meeting.

And don't look for me in a human shape.
I am inside your looking. No room
for form with love this strong.

Beat the drum and let poets speak.
This is a day of purification for those who
are already mature and initiated into what love is.

Introduction of Estella and Eulogy

Song: In the Garden

Demeter and Persephone mythos, presented by Mara
Death, separation, resurrection, reunion

Rite of passage in the water
Beebe floated while being supported and passed by the group.
Chanting of She Carries Me....to the other side and through the other side.
All were proclaimed to be adopted daughters of Estella,
incarnation of the great Mother.
Beach clean-up crew asked about our mission, and stopped working in apparent reverence.

Closing
Song: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Verses added by the group

Sensuous Poetry

Sixty
Sensual
Sexy
That's me!
Linda

I stand on the edge of the continent
Where a tiny creek gurgles into the sea..
The sea replies with swell after roaring swell
In powerful rhythmic caresses
Making Cosmic love to the creek
And to my wildly joyful soul and body.
Emily

You lifted up your Turkish skirts
And I burrowed into your fertile fields.
The gift of our coupling transforms me-
A single turquoise tulip.
(unsigned)

Beloved, I long to touch your body
breath to breath,
heart to eye to lips
salty taste to taste
heat to flame to radiant sun.
Mara

Poetry from Phasalis
I stand on the edge of the continent
Where a tiny creek gurgles into the sea..
The sea replies with swell after roaring swell
In powerful rhythmic caresses
Making Cosmic love to the creek
And to my wildly joyful soul and body.
Emily
You lifted up your Turkish skirts
And I burrowed into your fertile fields.
The gift of our coupling transforms me-
A single turquoise tulip.
Karen
Beloved, I long to touch your body
breath to breath,
heart to eye to lips
salty taste to taste
heat to flame to radiant sun.
Mara
Lips and hands yearn to caress
Full, soft vessels of nurturing spirit.
Pour essence into my open mouth.
I want to intoxicate on nectar from your 1,000 breasts.
Beebe
Everlasting, ever-changing
Flashes of light
Oh, beloved
The joy of desire.
Kay
I saw how the mountains fit together
And I brought that home to you
I delighted in the warmth you found in the desert
We took pleasure at different times
In the sea and lake and gave that to each other
We leave and return, leave and return, but
Never part
Bonnie
LESBIAN HAIKU
I
Serpentine fingers, then tongue depart
Copper thighs tremble
Near sated.
II
Breasts meet, hips dance
Gentle whirring vibrator purrs, then fades.
Damn black-out.
Sarah Pearlman
June, 2001
POEM
The Night After Returning from Turkey

I awake at midnight in a dim, cavernous room,
Staring at odd, curved walls and rounded corners
Under a cosy, low ceiling.
What are those dark masses, those silvery swirls,
Spangles of light, twisty blurs?
I sense that I am surrounded by exotic mysteries,
Caught up in the swirling patterns of carpets,
The sinuous tunnels of Cappadocian caves,
The jagged gaps in shimmering marble ruins.
The sweet, mystical aura of the scene
Envelops my heart,
Then shifts to bewilderment,
Even a dollop of fear,
And finally to a wry moment of recognition.
In the ancient light of Turkey,
Even my own bedroom
Mimics the boudoir of the queen of the elves.