New Earth By Mara Lemanis

 

 

New Earth

My heart sent a thought
to my head
a thought wave
one-of-a-kind
no different from you
one-of-a-kind
but different in mood
like the veins of
each leaf unique
though the aim’s
the same
primal craving
to green each tree
before some thoughtless
whim insinuates, springs
up like aerial roots
from some banyan tree
smothering its host

My heart sent a thought
my brain tossed
Into an idle trench
near the ganglia
of fear far
from carnal rills
of love’s anticipation
my brain threw it down
to sink like a speck
among discarded
specks, to sink
dense
like stilled desire
like a relic
clinging to its
fossil forebears
death’s architects
forever building bedrock
for our local earth

My heart plucked it out
tuned it back
to the tide
that like a magnet
draws across the bow
of idle trenches
plucked it out
like a laugh
on the foam of
ocean tides
and cast a wave
that flared into
a crystal sphere
refracting light
that lit a life
where you and
I can meet
past broken time
with world enough
to grow plump grains
clean landscapes
free of fortresses, false
foils to fear

As luminous birds
glide down
lithe beaks
rimmed with berries
they drop into our
mouths, fearless
— we are their young —
we taste the bounty
through the mouths of
other couriers
whose thoughts
make waves
launch
crystal worlds
where thoughts speed
to the great meridian
in the reach of
that magnetic tide
the heart unlocks
where we sing
one to another
and another
a golden sequence
songs that
wave us forth
as pioneers
of this new earth
to which we
come in grace
fearless
in love
unbroken

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.