I read this poem “After a Miracle” and a few others this week at Poetry Jam at the Civic Media Center from Nothing And Too Much To Talk About by Nancy Patrice Davenport, published by Roadside Press / Michele McDannold
As I began to read the poems I was initially delighted, then excited. I really related to this poet, as often happens I believe when you are reading something really honest, refreshing, intelligent, and good. Most of the poems are about loss, love, and the poet’s own struggle to survive and thrive all treated as the “extraordinary ordinary.” And they vibrate with presence, quietude, and long reflection. Also, powerful, beautiful images. And words so spare that hold so much. How spare can you get? All poems written from an author with a pleasing combination of elegant mindfulness, Virgo groundedness, and scholarly underpinnings. A perfect combination for some really great poetry.
AFTER A MIRACLE
the ordinary is too
beautiful to bear
honeysuckle, blades of grass that thrive
in pavement cracks
the dead begin to rise
a while after the miracle
things begin
to seem ordinary
all over again
but satisfaction, a job well done things
the dead are laid to rest
years after the miracle
some attempts are made to fall again
merely so
the ordinary seems
less so
gratitude faith say goodbye
and the ghosts rise
as life changes
forever while we
sit down for
dinner
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