With Lucille Clifton
if there is a river
more beautiful than this
bright as the blood
red edge of the moon if
i can conjure such
radiance and safety
as expressed shelter
then my task as woman
will be quenched.
yes, moon, yes, calendar
if there is a river
that will cleanse
my generous
innermost abyss,
then echo syllables
of consonance.
after all, red is a wish,
more beautiful than this
—this river that men call foul
and view a girl infirm
though they brood
if she does not breed.
yes, a woman pronounces
her throbbing inside
bright as the blood,
reliable as the planets.
kind as the cocoon.
crafty as paper.
i know girls who’ve gone
mad. some left us livid.
we owe them, to commune
with the red edge of the moon if
Notes: “Not Too Hard to Master” is a series of poets writing on form and sharing a prompt. Read Kimiko Hahn’s “Medieval-Style Sampling: The Glosa” and “Elizabeth’s Cabeza,” as well as her writing prompt on the glosa.
Source: Poetry (October 2023)
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