Blogging A to Z: "W" is for Waiting

Waiting

What happiness is this that, once passed,
     harrows the heart?
It turns the soil, then leaves the furrows
     empty and dry.

And so you came and prepared this ground:
     for whom? For what?

This plot of earth watches countless moons
     waning, waxing,
While I water it with woman's tears
     until life springs.                                   (August/07)


Another example of a syllabic poem, this piece alternates 9-syllable and 4-syllable lines, creating a subtle rhythm in lieu of actual meter. The alliterative h's in the first two lines, and the w's in the first three lines of the last stanza, convey sighing and weeping; the w's also convey the slow-moving days of waiting. The final spondee, "life springs", and the onomatpoeic nature of the word "springs" with its short vowel, offer a glimmer of hope at the end.