Chatelaine

We must look within ourselves
For the purpose,  the guardian
Who will secure  it.
                                 Nina Tai Ling

I ‘m looking for a woman

capable of locking in

or locking out

whatever keeps the poet

from distraction.

 

Sometimes a distant train

and song sparrow

stimulate cadence, stressed

and unstressed thought.

 

But sometimes, they become

too reminiscent of travel –

 

a lilting Ave

 falls too soon

into a long-fading farewell.

 

She must know the difference.

 

I need someone who can survey

the lines and illuminate

the silhouette beneath, the image inferred.

 

Such a craft is key, inherent

as that of the gypsy

who reads  leaves and stones,

the pull of moon, the sway of string.

 

I want someone  who can levitate

 self worth. Raise me from the pit

and  keep me suspended, sanguine

 

for at least

the duration of a poem’s

final draft.

 

I know I have known her --

she is part muse, part psychic,

the long wands,  the sparked breath

of Maude Gonne and Marie Leveau.