~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Catherine Zickgraf

Psalm for Safe Passage

We travel the tundra,

observing horizon and winds

in relation to snow formations.

Even sea ice and fog make landmarks.

The arms of frozen giants rise tall.

We navigate by graves of stacked stones,

remembering our ancestors when we pass

through the white wilderness.

After the great thaw, we knit little nymphs

of springs and streams from laurels into wreaths.

And we teach them to protect each other.

With age may we flame our brightest

though we lose the warmth from our crowns.

So we brush our hair on the porch,

letting strands slip into the wind

for next spring’s nesting lark

to cushion her hatch by instinct.

Two lifetimes ago, Catherine Zickgraf performed her poetry in Spain. Now she lives in Georgia, and her main jobs are to write and hang out with her family. Her work has appeared in Pank, Deep Water Literary Journal, and The Grief Diaries. Her chapbook, Soul Full of Eye, is published by Kelsay Books.