Poetry

She is Riding the Branch

When our Mother — like flame —comes — to take her life back,
Life burns back, And again. Flame is all that she has,
Rising up from the coals, folding into the sky
From her now. All is changed! And she glows on the same.

Life burns back! And again! Flame is all that she has —
Since she gave up her land once — to strangers. We call
From her now. All is changed! And she glows on the same,
Rising up from the coals, folding into the sky

Since she gave up her land once — to strangers. We call,
Like the embers that pulse. She is moving away,
Rising up from the coals, folding into the sky
Where her heart births green-yellow again through the night.

Like the embers that pulse, she is moving away,
She’s returning in dark — as a creature again —
Where her heart births green-yellow again through the night.
As we lie in our newer grave, with softer hearts,

She’s returning in dark— as a creature again —
She is riding the branch! She will bring us to be
As we lie in our newer grave, with softer hearts,
Where her body remembers the throb of the trees.
She is riding the branch! She will bring us to be

When our Mother — like flame —comes — to take her life back,
Where her body remembers the throb of the trees
Rising up from the coals, folding into the sky!

Annie Finch

Annie Finch is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently The Poetry Witch Little Book of Spells (Wesleyan University Press), and books on poetry including The Body of Poetry: Essays on Women, Form, and the Poetic Self and Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, The New York Times, The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century American Poetry, and onstage at Carnegie Hall. Her awards include the Sarasvati Award for Poetry and the Robert Fitzgerald Lifetime Award for contribution to the study of versification. She is based in Washington, DC and offers online classes for poets in metrical and formal craft, as well as holistic workshops and retreats that share the transformative magic of rhythmic language with seekers from all backgrounds.

Previous
Morir Soñando
Next
George’s Blackberry Eyes