your most recent poems
still make the headlines Psappha
we cite you we remember your lines
and as you'd hoped
someone in some future time
will remember me
we lesbians never believed
the rumours of suicide
from the Leucadian cliffs
we now know that old age
has taken its pleasure
turning my black hair white
your ten thousand poems
are fragments shards
of their former selves
your history like so many
to be read in the gaps
in the spaces between the lines
I found you as lines of graffiti
in the smallest room where
I read that the most beautiful
thing on this black earth [is]
whomever you love
for you it was Anaktoria
as the moon rises and sets
I think of you yet again
like so many poets
even more lesbians
whose hearts you
awakened and thrilled
* The translations in italics are by me. This is the last of the Muse poem sequence.
I have loved all these, Susan. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for prompting the initial idea. I have been thinking about Muses for a while but had not considered writing a poem for each one.
DeleteI'm glad you did. :)
Deleteso am I!
ReplyDeleteI third that! (Is that even a thing?) Very much enjoyed each Muse. Thanks Susan!
ReplyDeletea lovely close
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your responses hroughout. It kept me going.
ReplyDelete