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POETRY CONTEST

Talija

I remember when you were born
you came amid the monsoon
that broke the dry and pregnant heat
thunder spoke rain in the desert
the earth exhaled the scent of seeds
and you came in the midst of roses
someone had delivered
to your mother
out at the end of that dead end road
you were born not far
from where I once saw a falcon
perched on a fencepost not three feet distant
from where I surfaced in meditation
you were like that, an omen,
surrounded by medicine bundles
blessed by the hands of holy men and midwives
and you were pretty, lying there
on that purple Guatemalan weave
the signature of a certain town
where women sang songs to bless the passage
as we had sung to you
legs splayed, bent kneed
you were so flexible then, you had no resistance
to gravity
we followed your star
down that washed out, dead end road
and paid our respects as if
to some kind of visiting dignitary.
All this was before wed become
accustomed to you,
the bird alight inside your eyes
your voice unfurled in words
your magic name.

Susan DeFreitas
Prescott, Arizona