Poetry from Eartha Davis
òran sgiath
the heart swallows a whale &
unknits herself wet. we are instinct
whittled from heat &
the palm of a mother’s
kindnesses & confuse is
for
was. look: our bird
is returning song
to the
trees. our bird
is confusing eyelids
for fluttering gods. our bird
is wingsowing light
to the ribs of
our hands. look:
bodies
are lunged
mountains. they nurse us
the way hope
blankets a
people — the way mouth
gently ushers
a fluted
resurrection—
abhainn, pailme
Train
the palm
to sway
above
ocean / tame
her sugar-plumed
salt / train
the palm
to unveil
heart’s
sacrament / suckle
on the empathy
of
trees / nestle
against
the limbs
of
bruised
yesterdays
&
dream,
dream… / train
the body
to reanimate
centuries / (the body
is never
one
thing) / swallow
the dialect
of
dragonflies / bow
at the altar
of a lover’s
pomegranate
blushing / listen:
the palm
is a trembling
kākā / it worships
a concert
of
rivers / sketches
the wilt
of a world
unzipping / (a world
is never
one
thing) / remember
dusk / light
folding
gently
into
your
arms / knocking
on your
solitude
like
silken
kissing / remember
dawn / the wind’s
first
indentations /remember
me / remember
us / remember
Earth
freeing
all
the
Mountains / freeing
all
the
birds …
abhainn, thu
Thread
heartsong
to the dusk
of our
yesterdays / (a dusk
that demands
witness, then
holding) / ask
the river
to outlive
her
elegy / pluck warmth
from body’s
orchard / tame
the breath
of forgotten
Mountains
& articulate
their
loneliness
as
light / ask
the river
to
feather / wield
the kindness
of a
sparrow / cup
a lover’s
scuffed
cheeks
until
their tears
become
crystalline
forts / ask
the
river (ask
the
river) to remember
Earth’s
weeping / the sound
of hearts
unzipping / the sound
of widows
shedding
their first
salt / ask
the river
for
hereness / for
forgiven
thereness / for doves
to flock
towards hope’s
octave
&
dream
there …
aoradh do'n chridhe
Heart
is a prayer
dressed as
flesh / a spirit-
plumed
river
ballooning from
our palms / Heart
worships
our softest
miracles / marries
the strands
of our
lostness / asks
our names
to leap
into
belief / remember:
Heart
is an orchestra
of
witness / her truth
kisses you
gently
on the
mouth / her truth
beats
from within
honey-laced
fingers / listen:
we must
remember
Heart / we must
let Heart
become our
Mountain / sew
our songbirds
with
light / listen:
grief
camouflages
Heart / Heart
camouflages
grief / her feathers
pin themselves
to the stains
of the
world / blanket
our sea-soaked
eyelashes &
breathe with
us (one,
two,
three …)
