Friday, November 29, 2013

I Wish I'd Written This

Love Totem
By Amy Cunningham

Dream—
I will meet you at Talking Log
when Daffodil rises
and Mud sticks to boots.

Sun—
I will meet you at Talking Log
when Stream has Moon
and Dog perches on Flat Rock to drink.

Music—
I will meet you at Talking Log
when Leaf becomes Sea
and Sound brushes jingle dress.

Fire—
I will meet you at Talking Log
when Snow freezes Time
and Shadow whishes as we walk.

Peace—
I will meet you at Talking Log
when West Wind rages
and Deer hides behind Tree.

Death—
I will meet you at Talking Log
and Thunderbird will be our guide
and Great Spirit will carry us.


Amy Cunningham was one of the wonderful poets I encountered on MySpace. She wrote this beautiful poem when she was 10! (Which was in 1977.) She was a lot older than that when we connected, and I don't remember why she chose to share it on MySpace, but I thought it an astounding piece of work from a child that age. (I wrote poems as a child too, but not of that calibre!) I think it extraordinarily accomplished, and I loved it better than the poems she was writing as an adult, which were in a more experimental style.

Unfortunately she was one I lost touch with after MySpace, and when I tried Googling her for this post I couldn't find her. There are lots of Amy Cunninghams, but not one listed as a poet, and no sign of her poetry anywhere online.  I looked very carefully, and none of them has her face either, so it's not as if she is present in some other capacity.

If anyone knows of her, please let me know too. (As you may guess from the poem, she was American.) Meanwhile, when we were in contact she gave permission for me to share this poem with the people in my writers' group, so I trust she would not object to my sharing it with this rather larger writers' group too. 

And I still think, if I can give you only one poem from this poet, this one is THE one.


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

5 comments:

  1. Rosemary, that is indeed an EXCEPTIONAL poem, and even more exceptional (in its depth and form) in that it was written by a 10-year-old! Love the last stanza.

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  2. Very profound for a 10-year old...beautiful!

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  3. TEN!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!! I adore not only the poem, but its unusual wording which is like she created her own genre of poetry which I absolutely adore. THANK you for this, Rosemary. I am astounded and amazed.

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  4. As the poem progresses such a meeting seems hardly to be possible, but I so want it! Thanks for the poem.

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  5. What an amazing poem. The totem representation concept is truly amazing.

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