Contributor Series 11: On Birthdays
Deliverance
By Clarissa McFairy
Ride the horse of poetry
bare back;
do not whip it into submission
or try and break it in
This is a savage steed,
a cosmic midwife
who doesn’t do C-sections,
but delivers words
in woebegone places,
without pethidine,
while cactus-mouthed coyotes
howl happy birthday
Calliope is a coyote,
but she sings solo
She lit the creative spark,
then fled on all fours
The Muse of Epic Poetry
lopes back for the birth,
but the true goddess
is the bloodied poet
Swaddled in smiles,
the poem is at the breast
from which it sprung,
and the pain subsides
Clarissa McFairy’s most recent poem to appear here was La Mia Musa, published as part of Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears, in July 2011.
As a retired Ob/Gyn , Clarissa speaks LOUDLY to me in this great poem…”cosmic midwife” keeps reverberating and “pain subsides” so aptly describe the relief a poet feels upon completing and delivering a poem such as “Deliverance”!!
This paints a beautiful portrait of life.
Wonderful images!
Thanks so much, ladies! And chuffed that this poem spoke to a retired Ob/Gyn. Thank you, Betty Ruth Speir, for giving it that stamp of authenticity!