Ah, Ah by Joy Harjo for Lurline McGregor Ah, ah cries the crow arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.Lands on the crown of the palm tree. Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.We carry canoes to the edge of the salt. Ah, ah groans the crew with the …

Continue reading

won’t you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton won’t you celebrate with mewhat i have shaped intoa kind of life? i had no model.born in babylonboth nonwhite and womanwhat did i see to be except myself?i made it uphere on this bridge betweenstarshine and clay,my one hand holding tightmy other hand; come celebratewith me that …

Continue reading

Fox by Mary Oliver You don’t ever know wherea sentence will take you, dependingon its roll and fold. I was walkingover the dunes when I sawthe red fox asleep under the greenbranches of the pine. It flared upin the sweet order of its being,the tail that was over the muzzlelifting in airy amazementand the fire …

Continue reading

The Waking (1948) by Theodore Roethke I strolled across An open field; The sun was out; Heat was happy. This way! This way! The wren’s throat shimmered,Either to other, The blossoms sang. The stones sang,The little ones did, And flowers jumped Like small goats. A ragged fringe Of daisies waved; I wasn’t aloneIn a grove of apples. Far in the wood A nestling sighed; The dew …

Continue reading

Dafa Rafet by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Yaay, Baay, and Goonay, Someplace in the Gambia, c. 1756 When the mother and childwalk from the villageto gather fruit, facesrecite quotidian love.                         Do you have peace                        (Waw, waw, diam rek)Then, they are alone, and the toddlerpoints out the fat-bottomedbaobab, the mangowith its frustrating reach.Mother pierces a low-hangingjewel, and …

Continue reading