LIKE GLASS, LAND
"…waters under heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let dry land appear…"
Some chaos slowed
became sluggish
like glass—land
is withered
waters. Feel
the waviness of old
windows in
the rolling
hills, hear the quiet
pools
of desert, fear that
the tidal wave
height of mountains
might break, fall.
HOW WATER CONVINCED BIRDS TO FLY AWAY
"Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life and fowl that may fly above the earth…"
Think of the sky
as a mirror
image of me. See
how it reflects
how blue I am. Look
clouds are nothing
but surf, another place
where I wrestle with air.
So I will be still
with you—together
we'll navigate
sky's shore.
Think of your wings
as fins your feathers
as scales think
of how high how far
you will swim
in currents
of air how you
will teach heaven
and earth
that the children
of water know
no bounds.
tina's wishes
a girl this young
could not know
her wishes
are for the secret
of wounds
for the beauty
in how every
skin cries
for itself
three moon faces
1. how the moon grows
mercury's a silvery
coconut in tina's palm,
she sees it dropping
through the fronds
of her fingers, knows it
ain't the stuff
of the fiery planet
it was named after.
instead, it has
a
moon glow,
gathers itself
into a sphere
the way the moon
grows, has the same
pull that yanks
the tide around,
that draws her outside
to snicker at the dark.
2. what's in the full moon
how is there a man
in the moon?
where does he rest
his feet? it's just
a face peeking
through a carnival
plywood cut-out
posing for a laugh
on the dark body
of the night.
In the moon, tina
sees a shadow
of a laughing hare
poised in the circle
of light—his door
-way into this
dark burrow
she calls home.
3. a dime she claims
the moon is
a dime tina claims
as it slips behind
the round flap
of earth's shadow
into a slot
of a cardboard
savings book.
she sleeps easier
when the moon
is safely tucked
behind that shadow,
instead of lying
as an offering
that someone else
could snatch
from night's
open palm.
T. Mozelle Harris teaches English at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, edits PMS poemmemoirstory, and directs the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop for high school students. Her poetry and essays have been published in a variety of journals including Red Mountain Review, Santa Clara Review, PMS poemmemoirstory, StorySouth and the anthologies, Family Matters: Poems of Our Families and As Ordinary and Sacred as Blood: Alabama Women Speak. She has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes for her poetry and for one of her essays. Her personal interests include making pottery and exploring the outdoors.
4 poems by t. mozelle harris