Published on 15 February 2019

Dear Ones,

Here is one of my early poems …

. . . . .

PRETEND, PRETEND
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett
amongst her early works

Pretend, pretend
wind bears rank wolf scent
spear’s rough-hewn haft heavy in hand

. . . . .

Alice B. Clagett

Except where otherwise noted, “The Chalice and the Crucible” by Alice B. Clagett … https://chaliceandcrucible.com/ … is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) … https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ..

Written on 10 January 2012

This is a poem about the childhood of a woman I spoke with some years ago.

WHAT WAS THAT MOMENT?
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett
10 January 2012

What was that moment in my tender years
when I succumbed to the notion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that love’s a scarce commodity?

–was I left crying on the bathroom floor? Was that it?

–was I awakened at night by a stranger’s hand
. . . . . as my mother — in some faraway place —
. . . . . gave birth to my competition?

–was it the moment when my folks
. . . . . walked up the porch steps
. . . . . . . . . . — right past the former apple of their eyes —
. . . . . bearing that sleeping newborn babe?
. . . . . Hush! You’ll wake him!

Not that? When, then?

That was the moment when I — unknowingly —
Gave up my birthright for that all-too-human myth.

Alice B. Clagett

Except where otherwise noted, “The Chalice and the Crucible” by Alice B. Clagett … https://chaliceandcrucible.com/ … is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) … https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ..

Written in May 2003

WESTWOOD: THREE VIGNETTES
A Poem in Three Parts by Alice B. Clagett
May 2003

Westwood,
. . . . and a homeless man
. . . . raises his hand
. . . . . . . . like a benediction
. . . . over the trash can.

On the street
. . . . old ladies promenade
. . . . like today-only ads
. . . . . . . . in yesterday’s newspaper.

Sunset,
. . . . and the sky is washed
. . . . in shades of mauve, then blue –
. . . . not like that steel-edged daytime hue –

. . . . but near and kind,
. . . . . . . . like a mother’s touch,
. . . . . . . . . . . . shelter for all her children.

……………

Alice B. Clagett

Except where otherwise noted, “The Chalice and the Crucible” by Alice B. Clagett … https://chaliceandcrucible.com/ … is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) … https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ..

Written in 2012

THE UNDYING HEART
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett
2012

I’m not that fond
of the north face of a mountain —
all day long, hidden from the sun.

Give me instead a lowland meadow —

not much to notice —

but the very first place
where the snow melts,

and the morning sun
coddles new life
from raw earth.

……………

Alice B. Clagett

Except where otherwise noted, “The Chalice and the Crucible” by Alice B. Clagett … https://chaliceandcrucible.com/ … is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) … https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ..

Written on 13 August 2012

UNDERWATER
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett
13 August 2012

I feel like I’ve been walking underwater,
. . . . on the floor of a shallow, warm sea,
. . . . . . . . heading up toward the land

Just last month my head
. . . . broke through the surface
. . . . . . . . of the water

I saw for the first time
. . . . a white beach,
. . . . . . . . palm trees
. . . . . . . . . . . . and sky

Yesterday my fingertips
. . . . cleared the last,
. . . . . . . . gentle waves

Tomorrow
. . . . I may find myself
. . . . . . . . someone
. . . . . . . . . . . . altogether different

……………

Alice B. Clagett

Except where otherwise noted, “The Chalice and the Crucible” by Alice B. Clagett … https://chaliceandcrucible.com/ … is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) … https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ..