TWO POEMS
AND, ONE SPRING:
Spring breaks my
heart
Being possible
Soothing away
The quiet lack of
faith
Protecting me
From myself
A pilgrimage
Of violins and larks
Brings me back
To other springs
On a brick stoop
And praying crocus
A remembered light
To weep for
Joins me kissed
By wind breath
Wanting
Hands held out
They call it
awakening
Arising, quickening
I am so afraid
Of such hoping
And such joy
Spring breaks my
heart
©2007 And, One Spring Leigh Melander All Rights Retained
©2017 And, One Spring Leigh Melander mythopoetry.com
©2017 And, One Spring Leigh Melander mythopoetry.com
FOR DEREK WALCOTT
AFTER HEARING HIM READ, “OMEROS” ONE HOT NIGHT IN AUGUST ON CAPE COD
This poem I wrote about and for Derek Walcott,
and then studied with him. He just died at 87 last week (March 17, 2017), and
it’s resurfaced in my consciousness. At a pivotal moment in my life, Derek saw me as an artist, a poet, and invited me to come and study with him in Boston. This act of kindness and of creative connection changed my life.
I heard a man speak
tonight
Laurel words
unfurling from his lips like
great white sails of
ships
casting past the tide
and we ride out
through the heat
and hear of Odysseus
and his
journeys away from
himself and
then back home again
where his solace
waits nightly
alone in her bed
unsinging his death
shroud
© 2005 FOR DEREK WALCOTT AFTER HEARING HIM READ, “OMEROS” ONE HOT NIGHT IN AUGUST ON CAPE COD Leigh Melander, All Rights Retained
©2017 FOR DEREK WALCOTT AFTER HEARING HIM READ, “OMEROS” ONE HOT NIGHT IN AUGUST ON CAPE COD Leigh Melander mythopoetry.com
©2017 FOR DEREK WALCOTT AFTER HEARING HIM READ, “OMEROS” ONE HOT NIGHT IN AUGUST ON CAPE COD Leigh Melander mythopoetry.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leigh
has an eclectic background in the arts and organizational development, working
with individuals and organizations in the US and internationally for over 20
years. She has a doctorate in cultural mythology and psychology and wrote
her dissertation on frivolity as an entry into the world of imagination. Her
writings on mythology and imagination can be seen in a variety of publications,
and she has appeared on the History Channel as a mythology expert. She also hosts
a radio show on an NPR community affiliate: Myth
America, an exploration into how myth
shapes our sense of identity. Leigh and her husband own Spillian, an historic lodge and
retreat center celebrating imagination in the Catskills, and she works with individual and
group clients on
creative projects. She is honored to serve as the Vice President of the
Joseph Campbell Foundation Board of Directors.
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