Gynosis One: Samhain
(for Jean Anaporte)
Judith Johnson
In the beginning...
when she named them in
the last red runes from her erasing
sunset, they came up from under
the water, from the mouth
of the rock, little waves in
a body alive, dancing
from one crest to another
with the strong pong, sweat,
body juice,
open to the light
when she named
them in the blue runes under
her night wheel they came as
water, came
as water as fire, came
as water and fire in a body alive a body
of light, of water, a spread out temple
of rock a deep
chasm of tide-washed foam, all
roil, all pulse, all blood, all unbalanced
force in motion, all hold, all open
when she named them in
silence and uttered
blackness, the carving of her
night on its own
body, they were her own
blood and body, the creeping things and the
rooted, the ones that mounted on wings, the ones
that tunneled her dark secrets, her
body of hidden kernel, her
body in the wheat
world, in the seed
cave, in clench in knot in
noose, resplendent, fiery
seedbud that held a cathedral thrust
to the sky
When in her silver
veiled web before dawn she called
them to her
rose wave,
weed petal, spider handle, earthshaker, spinthrust,
saffron color crocus color smell of metal and turned earth,
spice taste salt savor sour apple and malt
unmeasurable / gape in the ozone where the sun / burns
cave and iron ore dome of the rock / opening arch
of deep heaven alive with the teeth of stars
in motion she called
them to her, they were
hers, and they came.
Now! she said
in this clear
fire we weave together my
body in motion is
my body, i name it mine, this is
my body this
my blood and you shall not
waste it, you shall
not ever again waste rock burn water spill fire taint air
you shall not waste
this body in motion you shall not use
this body in motion you shall not own
this body in motion or at rest i have
named it mine, and you shall not own
this cave, not use
this tide, not have
this cathedral, not take
this haven of spice and iron in motion or at
rest, this body you shall
rake, hoe, plough, touch, drink, raise, caress
this body you shall
ease, melt, you shall sing, you shall praise, you shall
in my good time,
be
from my thousand planet
nipples, from my constellations of milk i swear
though you run to me though you pull back
from my touch, though you come with
all haste though you come not willingly, from
my core i know
you shall be
yes be this
body, you shall not be foreign to this
body, but with your whole
life you shall be in motion and at
rest with your whole strength you shall be
this body entire, again
again.
In the beginning...
when she named them in
the last red runes from her erasing
sunset, they came up from under
the water, from the mouth
of the rock, little waves in
a body alive, dancing
from one crest to another
with the strong pong, sweat,
body juice,
open to the light
when she named
them in the blue runes under
her night wheel they came as
water, came
as water as fire, came
as water and fire in a body alive a body
of light, of water, a spread out temple
of rock a deep
chasm of tide-washed foam, all
roil, all pulse, all blood, all unbalanced
force in motion, all hold, all open
when she named them in
silence and uttered
blackness, the carving of her
night on its own
body, they were her own
blood and body, the creeping things and the
rooted, the ones that mounted on wings, the ones
that tunneled her dark secrets, her
body of hidden kernel, her
body in the wheat
world, in the seed
cave, in clench in knot in
noose, resplendent, fiery
seedbud that held a cathedral thrust
to the sky
When in her silver
veiled web before dawn she called
them to her
rose wave,
weed petal, spider handle, earthshaker, spinthrust,
saffron color crocus color smell of metal and turned earth,
spice taste salt savor sour apple and malt
unmeasurable / gape in the ozone where the sun / burns
cave and iron ore dome of the rock / opening arch
of deep heaven alive with the teeth of stars
in motion she called
them to her, they were
hers, and they came.
Now! she said
in this clear
fire we weave together my
body in motion is
my body, i name it mine, this is
my body this
my blood and you shall not
waste it, you shall
not ever again waste rock burn water spill fire taint air
you shall not waste
this body in motion you shall not use
this body in motion you shall not own
this body in motion or at rest i have
named it mine, and you shall not own
this cave, not use
this tide, not have
this cathedral, not take
this haven of spice and iron in motion or at
rest, this body you shall
rake, hoe, plough, touch, drink, raise, caress
this body you shall
ease, melt, you shall sing, you shall praise, you shall
in my good time,
be
from my thousand planet
nipples, from my constellations of milk i swear
though you run to me though you pull back
from my touch, though you come with
all haste though you come not willingly, from
my core i know
you shall be
yes be this
body, you shall not be foreign to this
body, but with your whole
life you shall be in motion and at
rest with your whole strength you shall be
this body entire, again
again.
About the author
Judith Johnson’s first book, Uranium Poems, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. There have been seven more since then; the most recent two, The Ice Lizard and Cities of Mathematics and Desire, were published by Sheep Meadow Press. Her short fiction collection, The Life of Riot, was published by Atheneum and has just been reissued by FictionXPress as The Fourth Annual Greater New York Revolving Door Crisis. Individual stories have won various prizes including a feminist satire which, surprisingly, won a Playboy fiction prize, and a story which won Nimrod's 2012 Katherine Ann Porter short fiction prize.
For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page.
For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page.