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Charles Fishman Bishnupada Ray Geraldine Green Rob Frail Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan Back to Issue 47_48 Back to Front Page |
Issue 47/48 : January - June 2010 : Volume 12 No 3/4
Now I Am in Love with frozen beach grass the way it curves above my head as i crouch below the way each slender finger bends before dipping stretching to scratch the itch of frozen sand i am learning how cold each night is as i read the light through pink dim blue and sulphur siberian winds paint this land a different color. Each Night in My Dreams I Am Vigilant to Mountains cold air swallows me. i am its communion. i start each day by riddling ashes. if i was a witch i'd scry the future in the pattern of cinders. but i am not a witch— i am a woman. i carry an ashpan outside, spread cinders onto the road. as if i can control siberian winds! i cannot. at least i can watch them for signs. like snow-wracked skiddaw watches me, over my right shoulder. i don't think a mountain knows what a woman may dream. but i do know a mountain that follows every move that i make. this is why, each night in my dreams, i am vigilant to mountains. Prayer may your last vision be a bloodred shimmer of light on distilled water may you live in a land of pine cones and amber may your days be as long as a broom handle your eyes as sharp as a needle your arms as long as need be to reach out over oceans may you always have shade in summer for hot days in the garden may roses be the flower you water may the boat you choose be as sturdy as a turtle shell may the island you give birth to be as fantastic as jupiter! may the sword of damocles never hang over your head may the breath you blow come straight off the himalaya and may the animal in you breed strong women strong enough to carry fierce children in their wombs. may the horse you ride on be the blue as the heavens you inhabit may the chariot of gods always be wrapped in the curl of your hair and the instinctive rituals you practice remain on beach mountain rocks and water may the street you walk on never trip you up may your legs be as strong as tomorrow! may you swim to venus doing the butterfly crawl and the first starry planet that falls in the leonids fall in the skies above your head as you look up waiting for the moon to roll and rest her sweet weight on the palm of your hand as you hold the child you fathered gently may the baby whose face looks up into your own remind you of your roots. UK |