elysabeth faslund Poems

Sandstone talons etched your name, tested your ripeness,
Signaled to eagle-high ledges...
A foot rose, fell, and your soul was at one with the peak.
You became one with the mountain...
...

The sun harbors no mystery today.
It rises timidly, rampantly,
...

1. Migration

The pregnant and the old straggled along jagged cliffs,
Following their young hunters' path...no frost-snorting horses
...

Three times round he walked
And three, sat.
Once for all, once forever,
He laid down
...

And in the morning when the rain stopped shining,
The Lady picked daintily over waters tainted
With twisted wrecks of once-high trawlers.
The North wind blew flecks of lilies, pieces of
...

Out of ash, into words, the Phoenix
Rose at dawn.
...

He threw a shadow
Royally tall
Against the insect-splattered
Wall,
...

They didn't realize what I was smiling about.
Partly their charm...but, my serious doubt...
...

There was beginning and there was ending.
And the Time between,
when Goldenrods foretold Spring,
when vining green held Winter.
...

Old King James...are you to
Blame for lack of rays
Into cold rooms where
Monks, scribes, carved
...