Friday, September 26, 2014

I Wish I'd Written This

Mother Sky
By Susie Clevenger

Mother Sky, send your nightlight stars
to candle our way out of darkness.

Let us hear the voices of our ancestors
who spoke the language of the trees.

We have walked across the forest
in our stone moccasins for so long
we can longer hear the roots cry.

In the noise of our tongues speaking
iron and glass we became deaf.

Mother Sky, we are listening,
the days of stealing years from limbs are ending.

Our hands will nurse the great oak while you
water seedlings from tears of joy instead of pain.



Susie Clevenger, who lives in Houston, Texas, blogs at Confessions of a Laundry Goddess, where I've been enjoying her writing for some time. I thought this beautiful piece was particularly outstanding.  

She posted it only last month, so I have waited a little while to share it further. I expect it will already be familiar to some of you, but perhaps the lapse of time allows you to appreciate it all over again. 

I find it very moving, all the more so in the simplicity and restraint of the language. Let us hope for an end to our collective deafness, and for the "joy instead of pain" she predicts!



Susie's Google profile says: 

I am an author, poet, and amateur photographer. I recently published my first poetry collection, Dirt Road Dreams.

I am a member of the Academy of American poets and a member of the online writing community, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. My work has been featured online in The Creative Nexus, Poetry & Prose Magazine, The Brinks Gallery, and The Global Twitter Community Poetry Project.

You can find links to my written work, photography and social media on my author’s page.

Her Laundry Goddess blog has links to her photography, and to her other social media outlets. She also posts her poems at Butterfly Poet on facebook.

Susie is a member of the Poets United community and was featured as a Blog of the Week three years ago, as well as being quoted earlier this year in a Midweek Motif.


Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).

16 comments:

  1. Love Susie's poetry, there's something wonderfully deep about it.

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  2. Thanks Rosemary for selecting this wonderful poem of Susie. Her words are powerful and very much visual. We are visitors to her blog too.. :)

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  3. Fantastic choice Rosemary! I too wish I had written this, right from the start of
    "nightlight stars
    to candle our way out of darkness."

    Beautiful!

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  4. Ah.. I love Susie's poetry .. and the one above.. the image of stone moccasins ... wonderful

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  5. This really is a beautiful poem, Rosemary. Susie, I do hope that our hands will soon nurture the great oak & that Mother Sky will soon find reason to smile rather than to cry.

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  6. Thank you for this return to one of my favorite poems from one of my favorite poets. It's as simple as the knife's edge that exposes human deafness and progress by piercing the heart. Let us pray as we escape this slavery by following the night lights and clues from Mother Sky. This too is God.

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  7. Beautiful Poet presented with her poetry replete with celestial imagery reflecting the dire need for 'peace and a return to Nature' Thank you Rosemary and Best wishes to Susie for further success in writing.

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  8. Rosemary, thank you for sharing my poem. It I such an honor to be included in this series. My heartfelt thanks to each of you for your lovely comments. You have blessed my day.

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  9. GREAT choice, Rosemary! I so wish I'd written this, too! It is so beautiful, Susie, and I enjoyed it again as if for the first time, getting even more out of its pure undiluted beauty. What a wonderful start to my morning. Thank you both.

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  10. So resonate with me...thanks to Rosemary! Susie, I'm enjoying your words so much...

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  11. I remember this one--all the more striking for the softness and simplicity of the voice used to tell a hard truth. Always a pleasure to read Susie's work.

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  12. Thanks again everyone. I often doubt my poetic voice. Your encouragement fuels my desire to continue.

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  13. This is lovely- simple, direct language that reminds us of our place in nature.

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  14. A beautiful poem, full of precise yet delicate imagery and a deep sense of Mother nature's mystery.

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  15. Many thanks to all for the lovely comments. Susie, I think we all doubt our poetic voices at times, but rest assured your readers think yours is beautiful!

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