You seed yourself like grasses
in a field but also between
the ochre stones of an ancient street.
You bring on darkness and sunrise.
You circle mountains and trees,
the stork that nests in the junipers.
You speak of fear but also joy,
humiliation and praise,
the earthen world and the sea,
the countless creatures under the waves.
Your next line, There go the ships,
fills me with departure.
Today, the last of August,
I set you aside. You sing
ruins and vineyards, sure of my return.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 3.
Jennifer Barber’s most recent poetry collection is The Sliding Boat Our Bodies Made (The Word Works, 2022). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals and magazines.
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