9/11 poems from raw silk by Meena Alexander 1. Aftermath There is an uncommon light in the sky Pale petals are scored into stone. I want to write of the linden tree That stoops at the edge of the river But its leaves are filled with insects With wings the color of dry blood. At the far side of the river Hudson By the southern tip of our island A mountain soars, a torrent of sentences Syllables of flame stitch the rubble An eye, a lip, a cut hand blooms Sweet and bitter smoke stains the sky 2. Invisible City Sweet and bitter smoke stains the air The verb stains has a thread torn out I step out to the linden grove Bruised trees are the color of sand. Something uncoils and blows at my feet. Sliver of mist? Bolt of beatitude? A scrap of what was once called sky? I murmur words that come to me Tall towers, twin towers I used to see. A bloody seam of sense drops free. By Liberty Street, on a knot of rubble In altered light, I see a bird cry. 3. Pitfire In altered light I hear a bird cry. By the pit, tor of metal, strut of death. Bird song yet. Liturgie de cristal. Flesh in fiery pieces, mute sediments of love. Shall a soul visit her mutilated parts? How much shall a body be home? Under these burnt balconies of air, Autumnal duty that greets us. At night, a clarinet solo I put on: Bird song pitched to a gorge, a net of cries. In the news, a voice caught on a lost line: `We've even struck the bird's throat.' _____________________________________________ About Meena Alexander: Meena Alexander was born in Allahabad and divided her childhood between India and the Sudan. From her cross-cultural perspective, Alexander writes in, Raw Silk, Triquarterly Books/ Northwestern University Press, with moving intensity of post September 11 events as she evokes violence, and civil strife, love, despair, and a hard- won hope. This autobiographical cycle of poems reflects the surrealism of such a life and is shot through with the frissons of pleasure and pain, of beauty and tension that mark a truly global existence. Meena Alexander is the author of several books of poetry. Illiterate Heart, also from Triquarterly Books, won the 2002 PEN Open Book Award. Her memoir Fault Lines, chosen as a Best Book of 1993 by Publishers Weekly-- was recently reissued by the Feminist Press at The City University of New York, in a post 9/11 edition, with a new chapter entitled "Lyric in a Time of Violence." She lives in New York City where she is Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Centerer of the University of New York. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/yqIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Did you get this mail as a forward? Subscribe by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/join. Members are encourage to post poetry, their own and others', respond critically to the poems circulated, and participate in discussions. Post via email at [email protected] OR online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/post. ====theZESTcommunity====== [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
