Saturday, May 28, 2011

fertile ground

fertile ground
-----------


i am so very tired.
i drag the shadows behind me,
a midnight blanket full of bramble,
weed, bug, flower buds and finite
blades of grass.
this i pull over the swatch of my head,
and wait for nothing. the ladybug
tilts his wings against my fingertip.
he takes off so clumsily.

you may interpret,
in fact, i am certain you will.
again and again.
the tides beat against my bone
weary arms, rattling the cages
i have built, the beautiful jutting
angles of elbow and wrist and
that red marrow bank of hip.
food repels me in this hibernation.
there is water full and bright,
a slinky moon in my mouth.

the phone strikes anvil again
and again, the birds react in
great leaps across the sky.
i will not move, i do not answer.
you may not bargain with me.
i am asleep alone.

i lay in the hand shaped shadow
beneath the awning, sharp.
swooning in blues, swamp blacks,
dirt and dusk piled toward
my cheekbones in careless stacks.
you tell who you like: 'she hides'.
still we know i am the seedling,
there are buds erupting on my face
like small pustules-
the ground tills underneath my fingertips,
my toes.

you may interpret.
i am sure you will.
my silence becomes your cry,
your movement highlights this sleep.
still we know i am the seedling,
and there are many promises to myself
that i have yet to keep.

maggie may ethridge
i wrote this a while back and the last post i wrote reminded me of it. i have promises to keep not only to my precious children but the precious and lost child i once was. these are the ways we heal. love, maggie
Ms. Moon said...

I am loving that. I am loving you.

Lone Star Ma said...

Beautiful.

Anonymous said...

i absolutely love it!! brilliant lines.... the ending is truth!!

food repels me in this hibernation.

the phone strikes anvil again
and again, the birds react in
great leaps across the sky.
i will not move, i do not answer.
you may not bargain with me.
i am asleep alone.


maybe quoting the lines that strike me most i am completing a self-portrait... hehe...

LOVE, Maggie, keep writing, it´s the way we heal...

Elizabeth said...

Such a sensuous poem -- I want to lie on my back in some southern dirt and look up at the clouds and listen to your voice.

jennifer said...

This is so fab, maggie. i understand it so well!
glad I found it back here on the second page.

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