If there\u2019s a synonym for magic
\nit lies not in the wand
\nbut at the bud-bent end.
\n
\nThe body\u2019s a spring,
\nthe mind a whore.
\nEaster dawn, and loss.
\n
\nBetter to have been born poor
\nthan come to this late poverty
\nwhere milk carries its aftertaste
\n
\nand what\u2019s been bought and sold\u2014
\norchid from the realtor
\nsitting on scarred teak table.
\n <\/p>\n
Better to have been made
\nto make do all along:
\nthen she unwrapped a stick of butter,<\/i>
\n\u00a0<\/i>
\nsaved the wrapper to smear a pan<\/i>
\nfor the next flat cake<\/i>
\ntaken from the cavern of her oven.<\/i>
\n
\nAn old moon-faced clock
\njust beginning to light
\nthe humbled kitchen
\n
\nwhere each day began
\nat the same stained bowl:
\nthen she wore her torn robe <\/i>
\n\u00a0<\/i>
\nover white bra and underwear,<\/i>
\na dateless slip,<\/i>
\nfour dresses that carried through<\/i>
\n\u00a0<\/i>
\nevery season\u2014lavender in a vase<\/i>
\non the Formica table,<\/i>
\nits smart yellow chairs.<\/i>
\n\u00a0<\/b>
\n <\/p>\n
ARIEL COMMANDS<\/strong> If there\u2019s a synonym for magic it lies not in the wand but at the bud-bent end. The body\u2019s a spring, the mind a whore. Easter dawn, and loss. Better to have been born poor than come to this late poverty where milk carries its aftertaste and what\u2019s been bought and sold\u2014 [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[51,78],"class_list":["post-1904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-photo","tag-wingchi-poon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1904"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2050,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904\/revisions\/2050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\nIf you think I freed you from the tree
\nonly to have you master my minutes
\nwith rare speeches and harsh orders\u2014
\nif you dare try that alchemy
\nwithout first consulting the oracle
\nwho lives apart from your image
\nof yourself as little god and hero
\ncome to implement strategies, to write up
\nhere what couldn\u2019t be done on land\u2014
\nwell, I am under your aegis despite
\nmy lack of form. Go on then, try to harness
\nan elemental. Stare me down,
\nwrestle me with your ugly veined hand
\nand I will fight towards the shore,
\nfor I alone can swim the distance
\nfrom this compartment bordered on every side
\nby water, and I would be thought fair
\nby any brother who came from the woman
\nwho birthed you, who thought of you
\nas gentle, retiring, kind, well brought up
\nin art as in the science of planets, orbs,
\nand droplets, of mercury, in which\u2014heavier
\nthan you, I daily bathe, and gain
\noutright audacity, the spirit to hear those birds
\nbearing what is left of land: talon, feather, claw.<\/p>\n
\n
\nJudith Skillman\u2019s new collections are Broken Lines\u2014The Art & Craft of Poetry (Lummox Press, 2013), and The Phoenix\u2014New and Selected Poems 2007 \u2013 2013 (Dream Horse Press). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, FIELD, Midwest Quarterly Review, The Iowa Review, The Southern Review, A Cadence of Hooves, and other journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of grants from the Academy of American Poets, the Washington State Arts Commission, the Centrum Foundation, and the King County Arts Commission. Visit judithskillman.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"