ISAIAH 54:5 (A SELF-PORTRAIT) .........................................................................................................KARI ANN EBERT

Isaiah 54:5 (A Self-Portrait)

Poem by Kari Ann Ebert

He packed up the years in one suitcase at summer’s bloom left everything undone I stood still & wooden in the empty yard exhausted by the sudden drought

The grass is too high now Midsummer sun paints its lacquer on my temples on my lip and neck I’ve waited until tall blades bare their teeth snap at my kneecaps The anyone-can-do-it- just-start-her-up-and-go instructions he left fester under my tongue like vinegar I turn the key flinch at its growl

The rider all rusty & rife with demons lurches down the lawn chews out a row so straight so sure of itself until the sputter & grind wind down to a stop refuse to budge another inch The heat rises overwhelms me with its tide Fury crawls up my spine I take a swing at the sky

My Maker My Creator You promised to be my holy husband in his stead yet it is I alone who pulls at the sludge wrestles with the ancient blade slices my finger open like his mother’s cherry cheesecake You promised to redeem the time to make it mine once more yet the moth and locusts return each harvest all that remain are weeds & serpents’ nests all that remains is this rage

Hearing no response I fall to the ground Clippings & sweat form a sheen cover my skin like jade I sit in the lotus position as still as stone listen as the breeze rustles across the short path I made