A poem, because it's been a while

[osprey_archer]

This is one of my favorite poems; I hope you all like it half as much as I do.

Stern Angel
By Eve Grubin

Think of this sorrow 

                                     as a preparation.

This sorrow which cuts to the root.

Which comes in your spring-time.

A stern angel 

                         takes your wrist:

This is a preparation.

You will be a woman 

such as makes others glad to be born.

Comments

[troublems03.livejournal.com]

Just beautiful.

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I've never been exposed to this one before. With the imagery of the harvest as a love affair gone wrong, it feels like a more hopeful companion to To the Sphinx (http://books.google.com/books?id=ONAxJjjNNCMC&pg=PA7&lpg=PP1&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html) by Silvia Dobson.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've never seen "To the Sphinx," although I like it. How did you come across it?

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of mad for anthologies of women poets... I'm not sure which one I read To the Sphinx in, but it should be fairly easy for me to check if you'd like.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Sure! I bet the anthology has a lot of other good poems, too.

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Huh, for some reason I thought it was in a different volume, but it's from my very favorite: Love Poems by Women (http://www.amazon.com/Love-Poems-Women-Anthology-Through/dp/0449905381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247042553&sr=1-1) edited by Wendy Mulford.

I absolutely despise the cover, because it plays into all the stereotypes that the editor is trying to undermine. The anthology looks at the broadest possible definition of a "love poem", everything from romantic love, to familial love, to religious love, to patriotic love -- and not just the shinyhappy parts, either. I mean, the very first poem in the book is, well, I think it's brilliant, but it's also a post-haircut letter from Delilah to Samson. Apparently the Amazon "look inside" feature will let you read the poem, and I so recommend it! I also HIGHLY recommend 'A Letter to Daphnis' on page 14. (Like, I have literally copied this poem into wedding cards for a couple friends.)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Delilah - kind of kick ass. Samson - kind of a dumbass. Why do you tell your enemy that if she cuts off your hair you'll lose all your strength?

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Well, I mean, she's a girl. It's not like she'd have the balls to actually do anything about it. ;)