Hurrah—it’s Tuesday and that means a Tuesday poem.

And as of today I am officially part of the Tuesday Poem Blog, initiated by NZ writer and poet Mary McCallum, where up to 30 poets from NZ and internationally post poems (either one of their own or another poet’s) on their blogs every Tuesday. The 30 poets also take turns for selecting and posting the poems that appear on the actual Tuesday Poem Blog site.  I interviewed Mary about the Tuesday Poem initiative last Saturday and you can listen to the podcast here (click on the play icon or download the mp3.)

Today’s poem is The Blue and White Tablecloth by Carolyn McCurdie, A Dunedin poet (the same Dunedin that I celebrated in my Tuesday poem last week, Rain Wild Magic.)

So go the Tuesday Poem—and now (rubs hands together!) time for my first “official” poem as a Tuesday poet.

I have decided to start with “something old” and also a poem that celebrates the tradition of women as poets.

The poem is “You know the place: then … ” by Sappho (6th century B.C.)

You know the place: then

Leave Crete and come to us
waiting where the grove is
pleasantest, by precincts

sacred to you; incense
smokes on the altar, cold
streams murmur through the

apple branches, a young
rose thicket shades the ground
and quivering leaves pour

down deep sleep; in meadows
where horses have grown sleek
among spring flowers, dill

scents the air. Queen! Cyprian!
Fill our gold cups with love
stirred into clear nectar.

Sappho
translated from the Greek by Mary Barnard

There is much speculation around Sappho’s life, but little is known with any historical accuracy, beyond that she lived on the Ionian island of Lesbos in the 6th century BC and was a poet of high repute. Only a very small body of her poetry remains today.