Tags
And Other Poems, Bloodaxe Books, Elizabeth Bishop, everyday miracles, Stephanie Norgate, women poets
I was introduced to the work of British poet Stephanie Norgate last October when one of her poems came across the fantastic And Other Poems blog. You’ll want to subscribe to their posts if you aren’t already. Go ahead, I’ll wait a minute while you sign up. Anyway, I remember being so surprised by its ending and very moved by these very “everyday” miracles. It stuck with me for a long time and I revisited it this morning while preparing this post. I’m pairing it here with Elizabeth Bishop’s A Miracle for Breakfast for your #2sDayPoems enjoyment.
MIRACLE
In supermarkets, strapped
in a trolley,
on the motorway,
belted in the back of a car,
under the foundered houses,
open mouthed and fed by drips,
in a box drilled with holes,
in the hold of a boat,
in fish crates and on cardboard,
on pallets and straw,
on a bed of needles
on the forest…
A MIRACLE FOR BREAKFAST
At six o’clock we were waiting for coffee,
waiting for coffee and the charitable crumb
that was going to be served from a certain balcony
–like kings of old, or like a miracle.
It was still dark. One foot of the sun
steadied itself on a long ripple in the river.
The first ferry of the day had just crossed the river.
It was so cold we hoped that the coffee
would be very hot, seeing that the sun
was not going to warm us; and that the crumb
would be a loaf each, buttered, by a miracle.
At seven a man stepped out on the balcony.
He stood for a minute alone on the balcony
looking over our heads toward the river.
A servant handed him the makings of…
