Our Lady, Untier of Knots

 

Untie from me this striped tail beneath my dress,

this persimmon tree

where I search out my children’s shadows

with rough and hairy hands

 

Don’t throw me a rotten rope

as I climb to heaven

leaving me scattered and crushed

like seeds in a millet field

 

Reel in stone gods towards my offered rice cakes

and wide-brimmed hats;

keep the demons in their boxes

bound up with promises of sparrow’s gold

 

Unleash a summer snowfall

on a hill where I lie down

with ghosts of grass stems

shocked and razed for your devotion

 

Unspool a bridge across the Milky Way

River that keeps me from my love –

As ravens shed their feathers with my every step

let not my tears drown the villagers where they sleep

 

Copyright 2016, Carrie Myers. Originally published in Feminist Spaces. Volume 2, Issue 2, Spring / Summer 2016.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *