Spells: New and Selected Poems

CONTENTS

contents Preface,​xi neW​Poems ​ Blessing​on​the​Poets,​3 ​ Homebirth,​4 ​ Abortion​Spell,​5 ​ Your​Land,​6 ​ Stone​and​Cloth​and​Paper,​7 ​ The​Naming,​8 ​ Frost’s​Grave,​10 ​ Tarot:​The​Magician​Card,​11 ​ Keys,​12 ​ Beach​of​Edges,​13 ​ Earth​Day,​14 ​ Revelry,​15 ​ Architecture,​16 Poems,​2000–1990 ​ Watching​the​Whale,​19 ​ Paravaledellentine:​A​Paradelle,​20 ​ Wild​Yeasts,​21 ​ Earth​Goddess​and​Sky​God,​22 ​ Conversation,​23 ​ Calendars,​24 ​ Over​Dark​Arches,​27 ​ A​Carol​for​Carolyn,​28 ​ Chain​of​Women,​29 ​ Ghazal​for​a​Poetess,​30 ​ Meeting​Mammoth​Cave,​Eight​Months​Pregnant,​31 ​ Butterfly​Lullaby,​32 ​ Intimations​of​Pregnancy,​33 ​ Walk​with​Me,​34 ​ Two​Bodies,​35 ​ Final​Autumn,​36 ​ Elegy​for​My​Father,​37 Poems​for​the​Wheel​of​the​Year ​ Samhain,​39 ​ Winter​Solstice​Chant,​40 ​ Imbolc​Dance,​41 ​ A​Seed​for​Spring​Equinox,​42 ​ A​Wreath​for​Beltane,​43 ​ Summer​Solstice​Chant,​44 ​ Lammas,​45 ​ A​Mabon​Crown,​46 ​ Letter​for​Emily​Dickinson,​49 ​ A​Dance​for​the​Inland​Sea,​50 ​ Iowa​Barn,​51 ​ Bluet,​52 ​ Landing​Under​Water,​I​See​Roots,​53 The​Furious​Sun​in​Her​Mane ​ Changing​Woman,​54 ​ Spider​Woman,​55 ​ Aphrodite,​56 ​ Eve,​57 ​ Inanna,​58 ​ Coatlique,​59 ​ Nut,​60 ​ Brigid,​61 ​ Rhiannon,​62 ​ Running​in​Church,​63 ​ Blood​Charm:​From​the​Menstrual​Hut,​64 ​ Encounter,​65 ​ Gulf​War​and​Child:​A​Curse,​66 ​ Being​a​Constellation,​67 ​ My​Raptor,​68 ​ The​Wish​for​Eyes,​69 ​ The​Last​Mermother,​70 ​ Tribute,​72 ​ The​Intellect​of​Woman,​73 ​ Moon,​74 Poems,​1989–1980 ​ Courtship,​77 ​ Zaraf’s​Star,​78 ​ Goddess,​80 ​ Pearl,​81 ​ Interpenetrate,​82 ​ Strangers,​83 ​ Insect,​84 ​ The​Grim​Garden,​85 ​ Inside​the​Violet,​86 ​ Blue​Willow,​87 ​ Speak​Softly,​88 ​ The​Door,​89 ​ No​Snake,​90 ​ A​Small​Sound​in​the​Dark​Woods,​91 From​the​Lost​Poems ​ Such​Husks,​93 ​ Now​in​November,​94 ​ Song​of​the​Sorry​Side,​95 ​ Awful​Friend,​96 ​ Nightmare,​97 ​ Resolution,​98 ​ Another​Pregnant​Woman​Remembers​Incest,​99 ​ Tongue​of​Language,​100 ​ Dusk,​101 ​ Lesson​from​a​Rock,​102 ​ Reconciliation​Bread,​103 ​ Night​Rain,​104 ​ Fawns,​105 ​ An​Imaginary​Companion,​106 ​ The​Ages’​Years:​A​Dialogue,​107 ​ Harvest​Seam,​108 ​ Sundown,​109 ​ Shallow​Sky,​110 ​ Childless,​111 ​ Wrist-​ Bracelet,​112 ​ Wine-​ Glass​Woman,​113 ​ Lady​Bug,​114 ​ A​Wreath​of​Time,​115 ​ She​That,​116 From​The Encyclopedia of Scotland ​ Invocation,​117 ​ One,​from​“Rockwood,”​121 ​ The​Body​of​the​Thing,​from​“Feeding​the​Admiral’s​Pussycat,”​129 Poems,​1979–1970 ​ The​August​Porch,​133 ​ Spells,​134 ​ A​Dusk​Song,​135 ​ In​Cities,​Be​Alert,​136 ​ List,​137 ​ Still​Life,​138 ​ Coy​Mistress,​139 ​ When​Daphne​Ran,​140 ​ Lucid​Waking,​141 ​ Sapphics​for​Patience,​142 ​ Another​Reluctance,​143 ​ A​Way​to​See,​144 ​ First​Poem,​145 ​ Caribou​Kitchen,​146 PerFormance​Works,​1983–2010 ​ “Creation​Story,”​excerpted​and​adapted​from​Sheba in Eden,​149 ​ From​The Mermaid Tragedy,​156 ​ From​Marina Tsvetaeva: A Captive Spirit,​161 ​ From​Among the Goddesses: An Epic Libretto in Seven Dreams,​167 ​ From​Wolf Song,​173 translations,​1978–2010 ​ The​Seafarer,​185 ​ Louise​Labé ​ ​ Sonnet​2​[Handsome​Brown​Eyes],​190 ​ ​ Sonnet​5​[Bright​Venus],​191 ​ ​ Sonnet​13​[The​Ivy​and​the​Tree],​192 ​ ​ Sonnet​14​[The​Point​of​Death],​193 ​ ​ Sonnet​16​[Impotence],​194 ​ ​ Sonnet​18​[Kiss​Me​Again],​195 ​ ​ Sonnet​19​[A​Meeting​with​Diana],​196 ​ ​ Sonnet​21​[Love​Forces​My​Judgment],​197 ​ ​ Sonnet​23​[The​Tangle],​198 ​ Anna​Akhmatova ​ ​ The​White​Bird,​199 ​ ​ Cleopatra,​200 ​ ​ Lot’s​Wife,​201 ​ Andrée​Chedid ​ ​ Thirst,​202 ​ ​ In​Praise​of​Emptiness,​203 ​ A​Fragment​of​Sappho,​204 Acknowledgments,​205 Index​of​Titles​and​First​Lines,​209 ...