in memory of Steffi
She rang me seven times,
the dying woman.
Seven dying rings
on my answering machine
Seven times calling my name
yet I was not there to hear her.
My name suspended in the air
will float there forever
she wanted me to hold
her voice in the air
so as the air would keep it for her
but she went, holding my name
as the thorn holds the web
the spider has woven.
Today’s poem is from Leland Bardwell’s Collected Poems (Salmon Poetry), recently published to commemorate what would have been her 100th birthday.
She rang me seven times,
the dying woman.
Seven dying rings
on my answering machine
Seven times calling my name
yet I was not there to hear her.
My name suspended in the air
will float there forever
she wanted me to hold
her voice in the air
so as the air would keep it for her
but she went, holding my name
as the thorn holds the web
the spider has woven.
Today’s poem is from Leland Bardwell’s Collected Poems (Salmon Poetry), recently published to commemorate what would have been her 100th birthday.
