Friday, August 21, 2020

RE-READING KARIN LESSING ~







Talisman





At the back of the head

a giant

anchors the eyelet sea:



in its jaw, a

bone

is singing: good fortune.







Moraine




Through

rhyme



braided

to thyme



followed

the scent that



tumbles,

breast-



high, dream-

thin.



Un-

thinking,



saw;

blinded,



heard

how they lie



cluster and

stray,



sometimes

seem to float.








Night Song




Cypress,



night's

needle, my



life's

slow gyre,



long night, long



dawn, the

star-

bristled day.







Wind-Gathered




Wind-gathered

             the tidal

air



—gardening

crests.



Nightbells'

alarm:



as many rooms as

tongues.



But from the

prairies' glitter

to the estuary:



the grain.







June Poppies




June

poppies



flush

with the road



opening,

shutting,



the pine

mirrors



out

over the fields



the star-

braced shadows:



all

things



under a name.







Dolls' Houses





I saw

through death's

little door



at Cartier's



the wizened tables,

and chairs.




__________________

Karin Lessing
Collected Poems
Shearsman Books
2010