POEMS/ I Will Cultivate My Garden
I Will Cultivate My Garden
I will let go that cold in my bones,
rib-cracking, suffocating vise around
my chest, twisting tendrils of the old vines
that wrap my body tight. I will untie
the corset laces holding me in.
I will open to the dawns I have left,
the cool morning air, the phoebe’s distant call,
robin’s chirrup, chirrup in the elm,
house wren’s rising falling trill, will rejoice
in my garden’s rebirth, breathing in
the scent of hyacinths, daffodils, tulips,
rising rampant, new with bloom.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)
I will let go that cold in my bones,
rib-cracking, suffocating vise around
my chest, twisting tendrils of the old vines
that wrap my body tight. I will untie
the corset laces holding me in.
I will open to the dawns I have left,
the cool morning air, the phoebe’s distant call,
robin’s chirrup, chirrup in the elm,
house wren’s rising falling trill, will rejoice
in my garden’s rebirth, breathing in
the scent of hyacinths, daffodils, tulips,
rising rampant, new with bloom.
From Migrations (Antrim House, 2013)