Read Online A Woman Clothed in Words by Anne Szumigalski - Free Book Online
Authors: Anne Szumigalski
Tags: Drama, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, omnibus, collection, Abley, Szumigalski, Governor General's Award
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sandwich in my mouth)
~~~
a boy walking on the road
to church carrying a bible
a man walking in the purple light
he disappears then appears again
still trudging the road
still with the book
under his arm
•
the early dawn in lilac
is every sacrifice unearthly horses
•
a crucifixion naked and nailed
every cool morning a resurrection
with one foot I carelessly break ice in the ditch
•
light is lilac
I enter the church
~~~
(in the room our heads nod
as though admitting
all modesty aside
to knowledge and understanding
our teeth chew our throats swallow
•
we promise our mouths
they may talk on and on
munch on and on and on
•
outside the house
the wind gusts all of a sudden
opening the door
•
a few dud leaves
brown and curled under
wander in and sit in a meek row
on the very edge of the carpet)
~~~
after sleep rising
to the gaze of the mirror
to the knowledge of the river
•
she walked there
sometimes I met her
•
once I found her yellow scarf
•
I raised my hand
but the sun shifted
and she was gone
•
after death rising
in the blue wind
•
after words
•
are you the bride
am I just a lover flicker and hawk
•
sweet woman
sweet women
the sun curls over
the water and the fields
and the mountains
where everything lies like a
student priest
•
for you woman dear
t he door to my heart opens
we have learned the odds
and have embraced them
•
the scent of lilacs in the purple air
of far Russia and her pure words
have been spoken twice over
and she said give this unknown woman
my lonely grave
•
and she said when I love I love
try to understand how it is to live
between the swords
and the stars
•
on small scraps of paper she wrote
the wonders of the inside of
the head this woman the head
of the poets of her time
and she knows I’m a left-eyed man
you don’t get to be a saint
•
seeking an end to memory
•
here’s the river again and the ice
and Anna giving herself to love
all garments fall from her
but the garment of words
•
and what could be more beautiful
than a woman clothed in words
•
while in another century in another country
Emily Dickinson vaults the midnight horse
and gallops to her love
~~~
(the thin pale man on the road
on the opposite side of the street
what’ll I do to call him over
to my side of the world
what can I say yoohoo
you man with the scrubby beard
you erstwhile mennonite
•
he doesn’t turn his head of course
I wish he would
•
look Friesen I say look here
I have been to your house
I have eaten your good food
•
now my plate is empty
if I visit again will you
fill my bowl with salad
fill my cup with tea
•
and fill my ears with more words
than I could ever hope for
my eyes also
that I may be comforted
with the truth)
•
let’s say we can halt fear let’s say the music’s loud enough we
can hear it on our skins…
A State of Grace
Author’ s note:
The children are:
Brythyll (trout) 13–14 years old
Laurence 12 years old
Boy 7 years old
Nan 4–5 years old
Mother and father who appear generally as mere shadows in the story.
The two grandfathers who are responsible for the children’s education. One teaches them music and mathematics. The other teaches everything else.
The time is probably the thirties.
The place probably Britain (a suburb of London?).
•
Deep pools full of green fishes – these are the words that come first to her mind upon waking, and they are not simply words, for looking down she can clearly see sinuous creatures flitting in and out of the waterweeds, and her fingers like so many pale cormorants fishing for them in the drowned sky.
No-one has ever touched the sky, but there it is, as real as numbers which surely mean nothing at all without the fingers to count them on. As real as five-finger exercises up and down the keys, marching sometimes, sometimes dancing, white and black and white and
~~~
a boy walking on the road
to church carrying a bible
a man walking in the purple light
he disappears then appears again
still trudging the road
still with the book
under his arm
•
the early dawn in lilac
is every sacrifice unearthly horses
•
a crucifixion naked and nailed
every cool morning a resurrection
with one foot I carelessly break ice in the ditch
•
light is lilac
I enter the church
~~~
(in the room our heads nod
as though admitting
all modesty aside
to knowledge and understanding
our teeth chew our throats swallow
•
we promise our mouths
they may talk on and on
munch on and on and on
•
outside the house
the wind gusts all of a sudden
opening the door
•
a few dud leaves
brown and curled under
wander in and sit in a meek row
on the very edge of the carpet)
~~~
after sleep rising
to the gaze of the mirror
to the knowledge of the river
•
she walked there
sometimes I met her
•
once I found her yellow scarf
•
I raised my hand
but the sun shifted
and she was gone
•
after death rising
in the blue wind
•
after words
•
are you the bride
am I just a lover flicker and hawk
•
sweet woman
sweet women
the sun curls over
the water and the fields
and the mountains
where everything lies like a
student priest
•
for you woman dear
t he door to my heart opens
we have learned the odds
and have embraced them
•
the scent of lilacs in the purple air
of far Russia and her pure words
have been spoken twice over
and she said give this unknown woman
my lonely grave
•
and she said when I love I love
try to understand how it is to live
between the swords
and the stars
•
on small scraps of paper she wrote
the wonders of the inside of
the head this woman the head
of the poets of her time
and she knows I’m a left-eyed man
you don’t get to be a saint
•
seeking an end to memory
•
here’s the river again and the ice
and Anna giving herself to love
all garments fall from her
but the garment of words
•
and what could be more beautiful
than a woman clothed in words
•
while in another century in another country
Emily Dickinson vaults the midnight horse
and gallops to her love
~~~
(the thin pale man on the road
on the opposite side of the street
what’ll I do to call him over
to my side of the world
what can I say yoohoo
you man with the scrubby beard
you erstwhile mennonite
•
he doesn’t turn his head of course
I wish he would
•
look Friesen I say look here
I have been to your house
I have eaten your good food
•
now my plate is empty
if I visit again will you
fill my bowl with salad
fill my cup with tea
•
and fill my ears with more words
than I could ever hope for
my eyes also
that I may be comforted
with the truth)
•
let’s say we can halt fear let’s say the music’s loud enough we
can hear it on our skins…
A State of Grace
Author’ s note:
The children are:
Brythyll (trout) 13–14 years old
Laurence 12 years old
Boy 7 years old
Nan 4–5 years old
Mother and father who appear generally as mere shadows in the story.
The two grandfathers who are responsible for the children’s education. One teaches them music and mathematics. The other teaches everything else.
The time is probably the thirties.
The place probably Britain (a suburb of London?).
•
Deep pools full of green fishes – these are the words that come first to her mind upon waking, and they are not simply words, for looking down she can clearly see sinuous creatures flitting in and out of the waterweeds, and her fingers like so many pale cormorants fishing for them in the drowned sky.
No-one has ever touched the sky, but there it is, as real as numbers which surely mean nothing at all without the fingers to count them on. As real as five-finger exercises up and down the keys, marching sometimes, sometimes dancing, white and black and white and
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