Poems

Today is the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading. The idea is to celebrate the Pagan Goddess Brigid during imbolic by selecting and posting a poem that you like. Although I've never celebrated Brigid or any other goddess before, I thought it would be fun to post some poetry. In a form, true to myself, I couldn't choose just one. When I think of poems that I've enjoyed, the two that are most memorable are these.

The first selection is a poem by Rumi captures how I feel about love, and my husband in particular. The second selection is a poem by Margaret Atwood that I read in high school and it's always stuck. I read a lot of Atwood in highschool. I really love the rhythm of it and the darkness of it.

Enjoy!

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The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along.

(by Rumi)
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THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF ME

It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;

then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,
eventually
you will be able to see me.)
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