Stanzas from the Farm

Hot crunch radish pulled red and root
from the crumbling dirt.  Red root heart,
begin the day above ground this time.

The daughter testing boundaries of voice

and bark and howl and leaving pen marks

upon the world pushing against her and the world

she wishes to push as she walks here.

If a daughter changes herself, the whole world

will change.  Like this:  Her tiny foot stomps

the ground she will stand, brave and delicate.

The shy and rising swans taken up
before the green unfurl and flower.  Release
the ravaged voice you heard when you were ugly.

The white dazzled water speaks the angels'
presence in Hildegard's wet branches.  Her songs
levitating on the edge of breathing and black out.
The fertile sheet music and the tendril of voices.


The three A.M. birds name the day.
The heart's clay cracks to greet this Yes.