PaloVerde
The Arizona State University West
Literary Magazine

May, 2001
Volume 9, Number 1
 

Poetry

 

Carrie Miner 
Ad Manager, ASU West Express

English graduate Carrie Miner also wrote "From Here to Maternity," a story describing her experience as an egg donor. Among Carrie's many interests in creative writing are adult fairy tales and poems. This poem is based on an ancient folk tale. 

E-mail Carrie.
The Seven Swans"Summer Breeze," Michael Parkes
by Carrie Miner

 
Brothers dear, known only to me
as letters carved on coffin lids
midnight visits and a wing's caress—
Do you think of me when drifting,
passing by clouds and dreams long lost?
Or do you forget my vigil
while soaring high on heaven's breath?

 
Bound by trials of silence I toil alone
cradled high in these lofty gnarled arms,
—this Middle Earth—
not high enough to palm the moon,
nor so low as to form clay men
while treading upon barren shores.

 
By day I weave your stinging shirts
working in sweat and skin and bone.
Binding spells of silence and hope
with silken thread torn from my scalp
charmed with blood drawn from screaming fingertips

 
Come night I scan starry skies for you,
wondering.

 
Brothers dear, I know your desires
but do you wonder at my needs
my wishes for fanciful flight?
How could I resist that dark down
lost while you were circling overhead?

 
Soon you'll know the truth, blood brothers,
if you don't suspect the truth already.
One of you will live with a token wing
in trade for time spent sewing my own shirt
—of feathers

 

PaloVerde Home Page

Feedback

Disclaimer

© Copyright 2001 Carrie Miner and Arizona State University West
Photo courtesy of FotoClipart.com
"Summer Breeze," by Michael Parkes.  Stone lithograph.  © Copyright 1999 Michael Parkes. Reproduced by permission.  Michael Parkes is represented by Pierside Galleries.
Last Updated: April 26, 2001