In Babel Years
many hands
not the lightest of work
but side-by-side
group project
all in this together
pulley and lever
garden and sewer
stone upon stone
we built up and up
a heaven to fill!
round and round
through rain and snow
driven by what
tomorrow would hold
shoulder to shoulder
boulder upon boulder
Heave ho! ball and chain
breakfast and supper
we labored and drank
we loved one another
and how our tower grew
what fruit this height
heady delight
till one day we stood
all of us in a circle
each looking out
into a different vista
and who has words
for that?
Against Invisibility
I depend on birds
to flock and fly
at my approach
the doe to stare at me
flick her tail and snort
to warn her family
I’m full of years they overflow
what’s wild tell me I am not stone
Mary Buchinger, whose recent books include The Book of Shores and Virology from Lily Poetry Review Books, and Navigating the Reach from Salmon Poetry, teaches at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Her poetry appears in AGNI, Nimrod, Plume, Salamander, Salt Hill, Seneca Review, and elsewhere. www.MaryBuchinger.com
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