Tuesday Poem: “backwards”
backwards
tomorrow
I will throw burned toast
to birds that flutter down
from the dying tree
in one corner
of the yard
blackbird
flying backwards
as I step widdershins
around the old house
with its sagging porch
& broke-back roof
shade my eyes
toward the smudge
of hills—storm brewing
along the tops
© Helen Lowe
First published in Takahe 68, December 2009
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yeah nice bleak creepy gr8
I am absolutely in love with ‘widdershins’ – what a word!
What a great idea for a poem – and what a clever result.
looks like Elizabeth and I were thinking the same way. I don’t think I have ever heard that word used in a poem! I will use it tomorrow, somehow! 🙂
Nice to see you getting a little spooky – or is it just that “widdershins” is the best word ever ? 🙂
“Backwards” is actually part of a little ‘spooky’ sequence I wrote a few years back, & widdershins—which is a fabulous word—just happened to fit the emerging poem.:) Another poem from the sequence featured of a Tuesday was “Fey”, here.
Hey, glad you all liked! 🙂
Elizabeth, Sharon–you’re quite right: ‘widdershins’ is a brilliant word!