An Ode to My Amazon

Catt Kingsgrave -- Winter 2004

I would take up the sun, and bear it shining to your heart,
I would dry up the lingering damp that haunts your velvet eye,
I would card out your fears to give your hopes a leaping start,
But you would only look at me, and shake your head and sigh
Because I never learn that you are too fierce to protect,
And that your many wounds are all that make you feel alive
And that your life points forward, with small room for regret,
And less room for the ones who want to keep you from the dive.
And so, to mark your Day, I offer cliffs of daring height
And gales beneath to bear aloft your hunting-raptor wings.
I bless your flashing eye, and bid it put your foes to flight
And in the lull of battle, I will bring you softer things:
A pillow of my breath for when you can't hold up your head,
My Sight, for when your own's occluded by surrounding trees,
My shadow right behind you when your fears won't let you sleep,
And all the hope I have when all your own hope simply flees.
I am to you no better than a friend;
The best I hope to be, though, in the end.