Unfettered by Melva Priddy
A meandering god stepped into silence
when I was three years old, settled
and spoke with me inside the dappled edge
of maples, oaks and cedars across the road.
Unfettered, I melded
with dirt, clay, tree trunks and stone.
Doleful and pliant mud, worked from yesterday’s rain
which persisted in widening the gully across the front field,
we molded into dishes, laid them aside.
Red clay. Red bowls. Red plates.
Pinched small lumps, rolled them between thumb
and fingertips, peas. Placed them in a bowl.
Between each pea a pause, and my companion
who perhaps had always been with me.
Then, on haunches and mudded feet,
we blessed a bowl and ate.
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Melva Sue Priddy’s Artist Statement: Melva Sue Priddy, a Kentuckian, writes poems that witness survivance and growth, bringing to light truths that arise out of felt experience; and the common extraordinary.
