Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Lenten Rose and Lily


And [Rebecca] said to the servant:
Who is that man cometh towards us along the field?
And he said to her: That is my master.
But she quickly took her cloak and covered herself.

Lenten rose, your blooms are a tree of wounds,
Ever to green spring’s badge of splendor.
No thorns demanding blood, you take to hands
Too easily, unabashed by candor,
Entreating summer sunlight to embark
Now over soil’s unbuttoned furrows
Replete with shadows - now to raise the work
Of bread and days. A fielded figure narrows
Sight, his hard eyes curse the sweat of sun and dust.
Evening soothes what noon’s blistered hours bleach
Lily-white. Caravans of cool winds crest
Isaac’s soul as love’s slower hooves approach
Like anticipation’s growing susurrus –
Yielding God in lily-veiled hosannas.

2 comments:

  1. I've never really understood poetry, but I think you're a marvellous poet.

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  2. Louise,

    What a kind thing to say!

    As for understanding the stuff ("I too dislike it..." - Marianne Moore), I would suggest you concentrate first on the music - and enjoy the sheer sound of the words and then on the second go around start focusing on the meaning, etc.

    A few books to get you started:

    Paul Fussell's "Poetic Meter and Poetic Form"

    Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks: "Understanding Poetry"

    Thank you again for commenting - visit often!

    JOB

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