There is a Space - By Mara Lemanis
There is a Space
There is a space between
the first words planted
like a giant Sequoia
stiffening my heart
and the last words
whispered when mind
has scoured the heart.
There is a space between
the morning’s gaze
and night’s forgetting;
the songs of the air–
leaves murmuring to wind,
to birds, to rain
and the cries of the earth–
the chattering streets, the clang
of steel, the tractor’s grind.
There is a space between
the lucent marble of
a cheek at dawn
and creviced clay at dusk;
between a slave on bended knee
and a man freestanding at salute;
and there is space between
the fables my heart
pounds to truth
and tales that
clog my pump.
This space marks days
that hail my life
and what life rattles back at me.
These are the wages I pay time
and time redeems them
as my past and present
leak spaces into time
like lava cooling to obsidian
and pour me
to the edge
past space
where timelessness unfolds.
–Mara Lemanis
Mara Lemanis
Biography: Mara Lemanis is a literary scholar. Her essays have been selected for 20th CENTURY LITERARY CRITICISM and are included in undergraduate student textbooks in the U.S.
She has worked as an archivist for Historical Preservation and with the IRC, assisting refugees in Oakland, California.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions and positions expressed within this guest article are those of the author Mara Lemanis alone and do not represent those of the Marbella Marbella website. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to Mara Lemanis and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with the author.
