Goddess of the Edges

By Elizabeth Carson

One woman's poetic take on life, from the mundane to the metaphysical (and several dealing with cats). You don't have to have a Ph.D. to read these poems. You only need an open heart and a sense of humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Carson
• Release date: Jan 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781393162971

Book preview

Goddess

of the

Edges

––––––––

Elizabeth Carson

Copyright © 2015 Elizabeth Carson

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-9939790-2-6

Cover photography and design: Elizabeth Carson

Dedication

To the wonderful women of my  book club. You’ve been my first audience and cheered me on in my poetic endeavors. It wouldn’t have happened without you.

Thanks especially to Iris and Mary Ann, who each provided inspiration for one of the poems in this book.

Table of Contents

Old Willis Point Road

The Old Ones at the Well

The Swans of Winter

The Beggar

On Faith

Goddess of the Edges

Doze

Lament for Mary

Downtown Ghosts

Elder Walk

Dig

Cold, Empty Bed

Rescue Kitten (Terra #1)

High Road to Heaven

Seascape

Charlie

Tea Party

At the Cathedral

The Stag  (The Poet Meets the King)

Approaching Solstice (Winter)

Squall on the Bog

Short Story

Cyclamen

Easter

Reading the Writer

The Dead Crow

I Will Spin a Prayer

The Unknown (Terra #2)

Petunias

Urban Bog

In the Garden

Letting Go

Dance

Breakfast (Misty #1)

The First Five Minutes

Fruition

Albino Crow

Change (Terra #3)

Thursday Afternoon

Summer City Weekend

Left

What’s Hidden

Iris Reads Poetry

A Little Spring Song

Winter Solstice 2011

On Distraction

Lauds

Payment

Approaching Solstice (Summer)

Doors #2

Bookmobile

The Scent of Things

Crow Wisdom

Summer City Night

Green Cotton Bag (Terra #5)

Persephone

New Year 2010

About Cupcakes

Cemetery Etiquette

Walled Garden

Dragon Child (Conversation #2)

The Components

Live, Live

The Road You Will Take

Fences

To the Drowned Villages

Naps (Terra #7)

At the Labour Day Fair

Hanged Man

No Simple Story

Take Good Care

The Hunter

The Thought of Rain

Nursery Rhyme

On Time (Conversation #1)

The First Day

The Poet Gets Older

Joining

Twelve Weeks

Shorts

Pilgrim Path

Cleaning the Liquor Cabinet

Flyboys

Prayer

Spring Garden

Elder Reflection

Perspective

First Trip Abroad

You Have the Use

On Hearing Sacred Chant

The Hummingbird

Psalm: In Place

Missing (Terra #8)

From an Older Sister

Waiting for the Snow

The Nor’wester (Misty #2)

Thoughts on Growing Older

To Sherry, on a Wet Winter Day

Shrinkage

Familiar (Haricat #1)

The Call

Alphabetical List of Titles

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Goddess of the Edges

Old Willis Point Road

Twenty years ago or so

they built new Willis Point Road:

straighter, faster, wider,

more convenient, more direct.

The old road ran through government land.

They cut it off with high and serious fences

and left it to its untended fate.

It went fast.

Cracks and potholes opened the way to saplings.

The road greened itself, tarmac disappearing

into woodland scrub.

With flowing, fragile might, the earth reclaimed

the artificial imposition.

By now, I expect there’s nothing much left

to remind us

that once we thought we owned

Old Willis Point Road.

The Old Ones at the Well

The well is in the center of the plaza

at the center of the village.

No one remembers its history,

or when it wasn’t there.

In the near-dawn an old one appears,

as sturdy as the land.

She carries a bowl.

She goes to the well.

Within moments, she is joined

by generations of the old ones of the village

bringing their bowls to the well.

No words are spoken or needed.

An invisible current connects them

to each other, to the well, the plaza, the village.

Then a sound, like faraway chant:

the old ones murmur in an ancient tongue,

pull water from the well

and dip their bowls.

Each sips, each sprinkles a few drops

on the pavement of the plaza

at the heart