Ancestor Poet Sappho
I took my lyre and said:
Come now, my heavenly
tortoise shell: become
a speaking instrument
Although they are
Only breath, words
which I command
are immortal.
In a few months, I will be in Skala Eressos on the Greek island of Lesbos, birthplace of Sappho. Reading Mary Barnard’s translation of 100 fragments of Sappho’s work, I am beginning to hear, travelling through 25 centuries of time, the music of Sappho’s voice and lyre.
So exciting, I can’t wait to read about your trip there, and see your pictures.
I sent you this message on Facebook, but I’ll paste it in here too:
Hi Susa, hope things are going well in Ajijic — I really miss it, especially in the dead of winter here, and do hope to return. So, my writing (poetry) completed exploded starting last spring, I got it all back after decades, and I’ve been publishing too. Just an amazing transformation. And I decided to A) retire from my university position and B ) do a low residency MFA. I now have four acceptances in poetry (waiting on three more), including at VCFA where I think you went? I would love to hear about your experience there! They are also offering their winter residency abroad in Cozumel now which sounds very appealing. The folks there seem super nice and they clearly really want me to come.
Here’s one of my poems that’s been published, in Lavender Review. It’s actually the lead poem in my MFA application writing sample. http://www.lavrev.net/2018/12/anne-myles.html
Anne