Spelling-Margaret Atwood
My daughter plays on the floor
with plastic letters,
red, blue & hard yellow,
learning how to spell,
spelling,
how to make spells.
I wonder how many women
denied themselves daughters,
closed themselves in rooms,
drew the curtains
so they could mainline words.
A child is not a poem,
a poem is not a child.
there is no either/or.
However.
I return to the story
of the woman caught in the war
& in labour, her thighs tied
together by the enemy
so she could not give birth.
Ancestress: the burning witch,
her mouth covered by leather
to strangle words.
A word after a word
after a word is power.
At the point where language falls away
from the hot bones, at the point
where the rock breaks open and darkness
flows out of it like blood, at
the melting point of granite
when the bones know
they are hollow & the word
splits & doubles & speaks
the truth & the body
itself becomes a mouth.
This is a metaphor.
How do you learn to spell?
Blood, sky & the sun,
your own name first,
your first naming, your first name,
your first word.
My daughter plays on the floor
with plastic letters,
red, blue & hard yellow,
learning how to spell,
spelling,
how to make spells.
I wonder how many women
denied themselves daughters,
closed themselves in rooms,
drew the curtains
so they could mainline words.
A child is not a poem,
a poem is not a child.
there is no either/or.
However.
I return to the story
of the woman caught in the war
& in labour, her thighs tied
together by the enemy
so she could not give birth.
Ancestress: the burning witch,
her mouth covered by leather
to strangle words.
A word after a word
after a word is power.
At the point where language falls away
from the hot bones, at the point
where the rock breaks open and darkness
flows out of it like blood, at
the melting point of granite
when the bones know
they are hollow & the word
splits & doubles & speaks
the truth & the body
itself becomes a mouth.
This is a metaphor.
How do you learn to spell?
Blood, sky & the sun,
your own name first,
your first naming, your first name,
your first word.
- Last seen on May 21 12:38 AM. Member since February 10, 2005.
- I'm a citrine experience poet for 165 comments.
- My mood is , and quote is "A word after a word is power.".
- I am a 19 year old girl (United States)
- When I'm not writing, I'm a student.
- I have 165 comments, 1 contest, 38 poems, 2 stories
My Poetry
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The innocence of the wicked is delusion.
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130 lines, 2 comments, July 6, 2007
My Stories
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To them he is tree boy, the untouchable of all boy high school society. Alone he sits all lunch, every lunch; captivated in a different world, his world: a world where only he54 lines, 2 comments, September 4, 2005. In <200 lines, Other
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Jackson allowed the blaring music to wash over her, permitting it to drive the harsh voices of her parents from her ears. The almost deafening tones of the heavy metal ma2780 lines, 1 comment, March 3, 2005. In 200-1500 lines, Other
Guest Book
1 - 2 of 2
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MystifiedPoet on July 13, 2005I'll tell you what go ahead and enter your tree poem and I'll change that option so your poem will fit also...just follow the rules.
M.G.
Edited on Jul 13, 7:25 p.m. because 'numerous of sp errors'. -
Summer Kiss on June 23, 2005I like your name!
Edited on Jun 23, 8:20 p.m. because 'I have issues
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