| Home | Issues | Contributors | Submissions | Contact | Links | Take Action | PoetryDepot |
Phyllis Holliday
Power
Power of healing
Power of the throne
Power of jade earrings
And horses, many red horses
In a cloud of yellow dust
On the rim of the world
Power
Of the hidden hives and honey
Of the hives hidden high over
Blue and green water with
Bright cataracts and hand
To hand climbing
Past the power
Of the mountain bear; power
Of Spanish earrings
Power of medals, pentagrams
Star of David, Saint Jude
The power of a dying woman
Of a living woman
Of a man with a piece of paper
Power of signature
Power of dignity
Which is among the horse chasers
The honey hunters, the craftsmen, goldsmith
The silversmith, the harnessmaker
The bootmaker
With power and dignity, the grower
And harvester of strawberries
Yams, corn, apples, wheat. Power
In a little ring
Power of a white butterfly
Over a green wheatstalk
Power
Of the dark, of the red moon
And the glass grinder, the
Mirror maker, the power
Given over, doubled, not held
The power taken out of a trembling hand
The power given to
The living woman from the dying woman
The power of the green bud
The child by the sea, that child
Dancing
The power of a mountain lion cub
The power of the moment, that very moment
When a man gives the reins of a great horse
Over to the young boy and the boy
Sits easily upon the horse
And holds the reins, neither slackly
Nor too close to the hand
For the power of a great horse
Is weighed in the holding of reins
And also the young girl
Light as a butterfly on a green stalk
Holding the same measure of power
Equal to the great horse, a red horse
With a dark mane
The power of purchase
Which is in grain and measure
To the tokens of small powers
Weighed together; the weight of gravel
And a road, a place under wheels, another power
In the footpath, the broken trail, the power
Of walking in an unmapped place
A holder of power in the stones
The water, the water animals
And the wanderer
With the power of wandering; the holder
The power of keeps; the living
The power of the dead, the singer
All power said and unsaid; the unsaid
Raining upon fire and the sea; the said
A craft, as there is the speech of the
Hunters of horses and honey, the song
In the power of the singing.
Copyright (c) Phyllis Holliday 2004. All rights reserved.
Web page design by Velene CampbellWeb page editing and site optimization by Peter Bunce - e-mail: techsolutions@netscape.net