Bits of Bark, Eyes
of Frogs
Neighborhood
witches burn leaves, squint into flames
blazing
wild, detect the name Grunhilda.
Yell out, Never.
They gather bits
of bark, eyes of frogs, pull names
from sleeves,
dismiss ones that don't sing, kiss
the name Glenda.
Crystal,
seven, builds a go-cart out of bits and pieces,
searches mom's junk for an engine, discovers
a golden scrunch.
She spits to
fasten a silver star to Tubby
the Bear,
the chosen one to steer Crystal
and baby all around
a cluster of
eucalyptus trees. They'll zoom in circles
breathe in
sweet mint wave sticks
of giant leaves.
Crystal's mom
injected estrogen to conceive in Tel Aviv.
Further
tests confirmed infertility. Today, befuddled docs, say
"We never believed
... that this
could"... mom sees the sonogram, relieved
"No
Dad's monkey brow," tosses kisses
to chubby cheeks.
Witches call out
names: Vanilla, Sabrina, Agatha. Which
will be the baby's
name? They cross their fingers, chant
into the wind.
Circle thrice, cast
a spell for this baby. Mom smudges rooms
with sage
sticks, says, "I smell the name of the baby." A bird flies past...
Good luck!
She hears bits
of good times never seemed so good... names the baby for her aunt
who died before her time,
Sweet Caroline.
Mare Leonard lives in
an old school house overlooking The Rondout Creek. Away from her own personal blackboard, she
teaches through the Institute for Writing
and Thinking and the MAT program at Bard College. She has published four
chapbooks of poetry and a new one, The
Dark Inside the Hooded Coat will be published shortly at Finishing Line Press.
www.mareleonard.com
Tags:
Poetry
WOW! That's my comment on this awesome poem, Bits of Bark. So earthy! So lovely the way witch women gather and support each other at the coming birth of a child. This poem is a celebration of womanhood and the support that caring women give to each other. And the nature connections make the poem even more awesome!
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