Today is Poetry day at Abbey of the Arts, in which Christine suggests a title and a photograph, and those taking part submit a poem inspired by this starting point.
Today’s photograph is of a grave in the Suquamish reservation, where Chief Sealth (after whom the city of Seattle is named) is buried. The title is Unknown.
The photograph is below, followed by my poetry contribution. Do click over to Abbey of the Arts to see the original post and all the poems that will gather there.
Unknown
Did you know it?
The life that went before?Did you sit in the smoky darkness
telling stories to the children,
weaving baskets of cedar?Did you harvest clams and oysters,
gather berries, nuts, sunflowers?
Did you fish for salmon, hunt the deer?Or was that time an echo in your soul,
an ache in your bones,
an imprint in the chambers of your heart?Were you man,
were you woman,
were you child?Did you know it?
The life that went before?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Abbey of the Arts 03.10.08 at 5:31 pm
Gorgeous poem Tess! I love these lines especially: “Or was that time an echo in your soul, / an ache in your bones, / an imprint in the chambers of your heart?” yes, yes, and yes. Thanks so much for your moving contribution this week!
anita 03.11.08 at 12:43 pm
Wonderful!
Tess 03.11.08 at 1:45 pm
Thank you both. I enjoyed writing this one, but it made me sad at the same time. I feared it was beginning to verge into sentimentality as well, but it’s so difficult to judge your own stuff!
Wren 03.14.08 at 10:57 pm
It doesn’t strike me as sentimental at all. I like it very much. The words and images are simple, unadorned, powerful.