Half-Wild Notions

first words reset fields of bonfires,
bring dark emperor’s deeds to light

gaining stealth, gliding like snails —
furtive angels flee the forest floor

birch-hard hands recreate images,
recount mean ancient-mariner times

cropped strands of silken-hair drift,
revealing views stranger than fiction

unresolved heroes hold us, advise us —
only slender threads lead home, sweet

yet, newer tracks of night-times falling
show pale birds sprouting radiant flames

dyadic thoughts cruise postnatal routes,
pressing all through the finest sieves

and still, deep-pond poems return women
back to their bodies — back into history

. . . . .

Poet: Susan Powers Bourne
Source: Women Poets Minnesota
Process: Pick-mix-augmented cento