I am a huge fan of Natasha Tretheway's poetry. I even like her prose. Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississipi Gulf Coast. Her book Bellocq's Ophelia was a great help to me when I was writing The Alchemist's Kitchen poems, especially the poems on the life of Myra Albert Wiggins. Here is a simple, yet not so simple poem from Trethewey care of Poets & Writers.
Vespertina Cognito
by Natasha Trethewey
Overhead, pelicans glide in threes—
their shadows across the sand
dark thoughts crossing the mind.
Beyond the fringe of coast, shrimpers
hoist their nets, weighing the harvest
against the day's losses. Light waning,
concentration is a lone gull
circling what's thrown back. Debris
weights the trawl like stones.
All day, this dredging—beneath the tug
of waves—rhythm of what goes out,
comes back, comes back, comes back.
by Natasha Trethewey
Overhead, pelicans glide in threes—
their shadows across the sand
dark thoughts crossing the mind.
Beyond the fringe of coast, shrimpers
hoist their nets, weighing the harvest
against the day's losses. Light waning,
concentration is a lone gull
circling what's thrown back. Debris
weights the trawl like stones.
All day, this dredging—beneath the tug
of waves—rhythm of what goes out,
comes back, comes back, comes back.
I also like Trethewey's poetry very much.
ReplyDeleteShe was interviewed on NPR in August.
Thanks, Maureen. I will look for the interview.
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