Grossmutter Comes Flying by Annelinde Metzner
A wind that could tear off shingles
whips over the ridge all night,
leaving a sky clean and blue as an Alpine lake.
The last few leaves cling low to the maple trees,
the newly bare tree tops scraping the sky.
The sound of an ax chopping wood comes up the hollow.
My uncle’s spirit is chopping wood, a chore that’s never done.
The ancient and everyday repetitions of labor-
splitting firewood, canning fruit, patching clothes, knitting hats-
the ancestors nudge us, saying “listen to the wind!”,
reminding us to keep moving, prepare for winter.
No tender admonitions here!
Grossmutter comes flying over the trees in a vision,
braving vast expanses of the sea,
four children, one just a baby, wrapped in her skirts,
my father pushing out from her embrace
to gaze beyond the ship’s deck to the New World.
“Fly!”,she says to me. “What holds you back?
None of us know what that first step will bring.
It is your Grossmutter in the spirit world and I tell you-
the world changes shape with every step you take.
Just go!”
A russet maple leaf lets go, and spins out of sight.
Nana appears.
She has thrown off her rose-colored apron
and put down her wooden spoon.
She is twenty-five, pin curled and all brand new,
eyes opened wide.
“Granddaughter, yes, go! With each step,
the world rearranges itself before you,
a Rubik’s Cube, a house of mirrors.
Take that step! As we live and breathe,
other souls live and breathe too,
and arrange their lives to respond to you.
Step into the dance! The music you call,
and the next, and the next under your gaze will fall.”
At this she spit-polishes her new red shoes,
steps on board the trolley car,
smiles wide at the driver,
and spins off into the skies.
Annelinde has three chapbooks of poetry: Isn’t It All of Us? featuring poetry of the world’s peoples; In Love with the Rooted Earth about her relationship with the natural world; and most recently This Most Huge Yes, including poetry of the Goddess and also world topics, written in 2012. Poetry, music, events and items by Annelinde available for sale can be found at her new blog, www.AnnelindesWorld.blogspot.com.
A wind that could tear off shingles
whips over the ridge all night,
leaving a sky clean and blue as an Alpine lake.
The last few leaves cling low to the maple trees,
the newly bare tree tops scraping the sky.
The sound of an ax chopping wood comes up the hollow.
My uncle’s spirit is chopping wood, a chore that’s never done.
The ancient and everyday repetitions of labor-
splitting firewood, canning fruit, patching clothes, knitting hats-
the ancestors nudge us, saying “listen to the wind!”,
reminding us to keep moving, prepare for winter.
No tender admonitions here!
Grossmutter comes flying over the trees in a vision,
braving vast expanses of the sea,
four children, one just a baby, wrapped in her skirts,
my father pushing out from her embrace
to gaze beyond the ship’s deck to the New World.
“Fly!”,she says to me. “What holds you back?
None of us know what that first step will bring.
It is your Grossmutter in the spirit world and I tell you-
the world changes shape with every step you take.
Just go!”
A russet maple leaf lets go, and spins out of sight.
Nana appears.
She has thrown off her rose-colored apron
and put down her wooden spoon.
She is twenty-five, pin curled and all brand new,
eyes opened wide.
“Granddaughter, yes, go! With each step,
the world rearranges itself before you,
a Rubik’s Cube, a house of mirrors.
Take that step! As we live and breathe,
other souls live and breathe too,
and arrange their lives to respond to you.
Step into the dance! The music you call,
and the next, and the next under your gaze will fall.”
At this she spit-polishes her new red shoes,
steps on board the trolley car,
smiles wide at the driver,
and spins off into the skies.
