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POETRY
Wolf Song
Under the fading day star dawn lifts the edges of the
night. The light of early morning rides the wind into this rocky
chamber facing to the east. We are drawn to this sacred place because
we are young and have need to feel the warmth which feeds our
souls when we are with the pack. Then, or course, there is the
matter of our speech, our native tongue, how we tell our sisters and our
brothers of the deepest longings in our hearts. If we do not
come to hear our elders sing how will we learn our song?
-- Clarence C. Kean Portsmouth, N.H.
Novena
1. Songbirds raise the sun while half the moon still
glows.
2. On frozen soil her toes seek to clear the path of its
rubble.
3. Brown and gray the colors of winter threaten the
palette.
4. In Mogadishu she calls out for
bread.
5. Houses loom silent. Inside her ear there are
hymns.
6. If she worships Allah someone will kill her tiny
children.
7. In the hills quakes split her
land. Afghanistan.
8. Today her sister may implode
herself at the border.
9. She kneels. Songbirds raise the
sun while half the moon still glows.
-- Jean Colgan Gould Natick, Mass.
St. Dominics Tower
The trees toll Like a church bell. It is Sunday
morning And a border of budding trees peals. They encircle a field As
God embraces the earth, Like surround sound Of a roundelay. The trees
ring On worship day. The deep, vast woods Summon adoration. The
tolling echoes And my heart is lifted Through the lacey trees, Each
maple, elm and birch, a steeple.
-- Cecelia Johnson Philadelphia
Drosophilia: in a warm winter
fruit fly -- last one: do you hover so
persistent (having mated) always heavy over some sweet place here,
only to lay your children to nurse in my empty house feeding on
this glass of lingering sweetness this december? --
welcome.
-- Anne Heutte Washington
Poems should be previously unpublished and limited to about 50
lines and preferably typed. Please send poems to NCR POETRY, 115 E.
Armour Blvd., Kansas City MO 64111-1203. Or via e-mail to
poetry@natcath.org or fax (816) 968-2280. Please include your street
address, city, state, zip and daytime telephone number. NCR offers a
small payment for poems we publish, so please include your Social Security
number.
National Catholic Reporter, September 6,
2002
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