April 10, 2011: Consolation for Tamar, A.E. Stallings
Consolation for Tamar
A.E. Stallings
on the occasion of her breaking
an ancient pot
You know I am no archeologist, Tamar,
And that to me it is all one dust or another.
Still, it must mean something to survive the weather
Of the Ages—earthquake, flood, and war—
Only to shatter in your very hands.
Perhaps it was gravity, or maybe fated—
Although I wonder if it had not waited
Those years in drawers, aeons in distant lands,
And in your fingers’ music, just a little
Was emboldened by your blood, and so forgot
That it was not a rosebud, but a pot,
And, trying to unfold for you, was brittle.
==
On this day in…
2010: Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell, Marty McConnell
2009: Bike Ride with Older Boys, Laura Kasischke
2008: Let’s Move All Things (September), Denver Butson
2007: The Day Flies Off Without Me, John Stammers
2006: A Supermarket in California, Allen Ginsberg
2005: Tortures, Wislawa Szymborska
