Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit delicious Jama's Alphabet Soup for Roundup.
I've been reading Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages edited by Chris McCabe.
What important work, to preserve poems in disappearing languages! I'm learning so much. Also: do you know the middle grade verse novel
The Lost Language by Claudia Mills? It's pretty darn wonderful and would make a grand companion to this collection!
I offer you two excerpts that might have been in my subconscious mind when I was crafting this week's ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem.
My heart by Anjela Duval, trs. by Iwan Couee (Breton: The Bretons are a people of Celtic origin who are located in the region of Brittany in the westernmost part of France. Breton is the only Celtic language spoken on the European mainland and has been historically repressed by the French.)
My heart is a graveyard,
Enclosing many and many a tomb,
Everyday there is a novel one,
The tombs of parents and friends,
The tombs of the companions I loved so much.
My heart is a graveyard,
...My heart is a sanctuary,
That welcomes all the ones I love.
excerpt from "I Love This House" by Meg Bateman (Scottish Gaelic)
With the child asleep
I wander from room to room,
bare feet on bare floorboards,
seeking the ghosts
who left this legacy of calm,
whose breath appears in the long grass
as blue and purple flowers
----
Now for m ArtSpeak: LIGHT poem! It's about moving, which figures, because I've moved many, many times in my life. And I guess I have a lot to say about that experience... because I wrote many, many drafts related to this art, moving my poem in many, many directions! I finally settled on sharing this version because I love a title that is a metaphor. Thank you so much for reading!
your heart is a house
each time you
pack up the boxes
haul out the furniture
empty the trash
what's left
is a room flush
with light
- Irene Latham
Such a lovely light poem, Irene! Yes, I've read Claudia's book and enjoyed it. Thanks for the excerpts too. Must find that anthology. :)
ReplyDelete"My heart is a graveyard," that hits home. "what's left is a room flush with light," mmmm.
ReplyDeleteOh, "Your Heart is A House" touched me, Irene. I still live sometimes in my old home! Thanks for the other pieces, too.
ReplyDeleteflush with light...just how I want my heart to be. Thank you, Irene. Just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing about Claudia's book, but got to read it. I must do that soon. As someone who has also moved many, many times,
ReplyDeleteyour lovely poem really hit home. xo
Thanks for adding my moonquake poem to the MOON padlet, Irene. I *love* this LIGHT poem - the image and the words go together so well!
ReplyDeleteYour post and Amy LV's are certainly in conversation with each other this week!! After setting my October goals and turning the calendar page, I feel like my heart is "flush with light."
ReplyDeleteOnce again, so much light and love comes through your words, Irene. Thank you. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Irene - I love everything about this post - thank you. (And after making what was not an easy move this year - after many, many moves over many decades - I so appreciate your flooding the hard parts with light.) xo
ReplyDeleteOh, Irene, I absolutely love your Light poem. ❤️
ReplyDeleteIrene, thank you for the honesty in "Your Heart is a House." "a room flush / with light" is very powerful.
ReplyDelete