by Michal Mahgerefteh

words my judge and silent witness
     sound their morning bells
my eyes fired with verses and trail
     of letters seeking the origin
of birth and its wealth of hymns
 
a place for my lonely prayers
     charmed with patterns of orchard  
and vine   this yearning carved
     a cavity in my identity
as I retreated into an inner world
    
shrouded by restless thoughts
     no magic carpet for my bare feet
just words to sail on a rich vocabulary

Michal Mahgerefteh is an award-winning poet and artist from Virginia. She is the author of four poetry collections, editor of Poetica Magazine and Mizmor Anthology, and the managing editor of Poetica Publishing. Michal is writing her next collection, FishMoon, forthcoming May 2022. This poem is from her collection ‘Field of Harps‘ (2016).