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Friday, January 25, 2008

Poetry Friday

Elena at Five Years
Demetria Martinez


Elena warms a brown egg
Between her palms, close to her lips,
Cold from a carton,
Chosen from the dozen.

It is the center now of a sphere
Of kitchen towels in a drawer
Next to an Amish cookbook,
Next to the oven's white side.

For three weeks at 3:15
Elena will breathe on that egg
Held between her lifelines
Against her grape-stained lips,
She anticipates the birth
Although brown eggs, her mother says,
Can't hatch.

But at 5, Elena
Has a good ear for heartbeats,
Sidewalk cracks cry
When her tennis shoe touches them,
The lave chips that embroider
The yard have names,
And a brown egg is throbbing
In the cup of her hand.

From Claiming The Spirit Within Edited by Marilyn Sewell copyright 1992




No time for commentary at the moment. I chose this work in part because a current discussion about women poets and do we support them. To see more submissions for Poetry Friday go here: Mentor Text

13 comments:

Vivian Mahoney said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. This poem is so sweet and reflects the innocence, determination and belief of a little one. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

That one took my breath away. So beautiful, it's almost heartbreaking.

paisley said...

well determination is one thing,, but three and a half weeks next to the warmth of an oven and that thing is gonna stink to high heaven!!!! i know.. i found out the hard way in the summer heat of dallas texas that eggs DO have to be refrigerated!!!!!

lovely poem by the way... just couldnt help myself.....

Anonymous said...

It was wonderful.

One time I did take a bird egg; it hatched and then died.

jama said...

What a beautiful poem! Thanks for sharing it.

writerwoman said...

There is a new poet added to our I Promise List.

http://justpaisley.why-paisley.com/

Unless someone drops out, no one else will be added. Thank you for accomadating this latest addition. Please visit him each Thursday, as your schedule admits. Make him feel welcome.


Hope all is well with you, Susan.

qualcosa di bello said...

susan, i admire your work & your commitment to honoring other poets, particularly women. i hope you don't mind, but i've passed a writing award along to you at...

wordpower

Deb said...

I love this poem. Thank you~

Anonymous said...

Nice poem, good choice in light of your recent discussion. I like all her homey images, little items closs to the bone marrow of a woman's life.

Anonymous said...

I'm a little slow- I just realized you run another blog! I'll write something soon for your last prompt! I immediately thought of something intriguing. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

This poem is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing it.

susan said...

Glad to hear you all enjoyed this. It is my personal commitment and passion to seek out, celebrate and promote the work of women.

Ruth said...

Hi Susan,

Thanks for this. Thanks for visiting my blog, too, and for your concern for Kenya.