National Poetry Month April 1, 2020
Gail Tyson
Darning the Wounded Tongue
Half-dog, half-camel, with bottomless eyes,
the creature kneels beside me like a sphinx.
Erect, tall in a Queen Anne chair, I gaze
ahead. Neither of us makes a sound.
The creature kneels beside me in a pale room,
silvery light casting peace around us.
Neither of us makes a sound. She opens
her mouth, revealing one wound on her tongue.
The light casts peace as evenly as stitches
lined up on a needle, its long arc
revealing a deep wound on her tongue; it
isn’t bleeding. I pick up fine white yarn
and needle—a long arc hovering, silent,
above the deep, oval wound, which is not
bleeding but yearning for the fine white yarn.
Slowly I begin to sew it up.
The oval hole, deep as the brown eyes trained
on me, accepts my stitches, unflinching.
Sewing up the gaping wound, I’m relieved
these sutures do not hurt. As I sew and
sew without flinching, without ceasing
the ancient rhythm seems to heal me, too.
Thankful that these sutures do not hurt,
I sense an old truth rising from our bond
just before waking, as if the creature
testifies: The world can be mended.
This poem was published by Able Muse in Winter 2014.
1. What inspired you to write this poem?
A dream. And when I shared it with my dream group, one of the members said it made her feel as if the world can be mended, which felt healing.
2. What do you like about this poem?
The way it plays a bit with the form, and the music.
3. What would you change about this poem?
Nothing.
4. Where, when, and how often do you write?
I write poems in longhand before moving to my desktop or laptop. Until my husband got ill and died last March, I used to write 3-5 hours every day. I am trying to get back to that.
5. What poetry books are you reading right now?
Eaven Boland: A Woman Without a Country; Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch: Not in These Shoes; Ron Rash: Raising the Dead
This poem was published by Able Muse in Winter 2014.
- What inspired you to write this poem?
A dream. And when I shared it with my dream group, one of the members said it made her feel as if the world can be mended, which felt healing.
2. What do you like about this poem?
The way it plays a bit with the form, and the music.
3. What would you change about this poem?
Nothing.
4. Where, when, and how often do you write?
I write poems in longhand before moving to my desktop or laptop. Until my husband got ill and died last March, I used to write 3-5 hours every day. I am trying to get back to that.
5. What poetry books are you reading right now?
Eaven Boland: A Woman Without a Country; Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch: Not in These Shoes; Ron Rash: Raising the Dead