 |
| The multi-talented Ursula K. Le Guin - "Art is work. No one ever said it was going to be easy." |
The Old Lady
I have dreed my dree, I have wooed my wyrd,
and now I shall grow a five-foot beard
and braid it into tiny braids
and wander where the webfoot wades
among the water’s shining blades.
I will fear nothing I have feared.
I’m the queen of spades, the jack of trades,
braiding my knives into my beard.
Why should I know what I have known?
Once was enough to make it my own.
The things I got I will forget.
I’ll knot my beard into a net
and cast the net and catch a fish
who will ungrant my every wish
and leave me nothing but a stone
on the riverbed alone,
leave me nothing but a rock
where the feet of herons walk.
----------------------------
Learning the Name
for Bette
The wood thrush, it is! Now I know
who sings that clear arpeggio,
three far notes weaving
into the evening
among leaves
and shadow;
or at dawn in the woods, I've heard
the sweet ascending triple word
echoing over
the silent river —
but never
seen the bird.
 |
| The wood thrush sings a song of its own. |
Le Guin is also a translator of the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I wish all poets took it upon themselves to do some translation work - it makes a difference in our own writing to have studied at such a close level the musicality and rhythms of poetry written in another language.
 |
| Gabriela Mistral |
------------------------------------
You'll find the Poetry Friday round-up this week at Life Is Better with Books. Head over there for links to what other people have posted.
