Here’s a poetic warning that my wife directs to those who close their eyes to the miracle of May that is exploding all around us. Maybe we miss out on spring because we are plugged into our iPods or talking on our cell phones or texting. Or for that matter, blogging. Ignoring spring requires a kind of violence, and, even then, we cannot shut her out entirely. Julia informs us that she walks by our side and will make herself heard. Like Euripides’ Dionysus, we ignore her at our peril.
Read the poem and then go take a walk. Enjoy:
Warning
By Julia Bates
I am the witch
Who walks with young men
In the fields of spring
Between the age when the question
Of who I am
First appears in their eyes
And the age when they shut
Their eyes and plod back to the village
Because they don’t want to know
I am the witch
Who sits under the full moon with young women
Combing their hair as it runs through my fingers like water
Between the age when they first know
Who I am
And the age when they turn
Their heads and deny our sisterhood
But even as you walk away from me
You young men and young women
You must
chop down your fruit trees
Dig up your flowers
Kill all your horses and pigs and cows
Silence your dogs
Tear down your mountains
Dam all your rivers and brooks and streams
To shut out my voice that
Shouts to those who are gone
Now
May.
The website of artist Andrew Mercer can be found here.
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