Women Poetry: Dr. Margaret Saine, USA

Exclusive: Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

Margaret Saine

MEDUSA’S VOICE

Medusa was a nymph

with a formidable voice

They drowned her

like they drugged Pythia 

silenced Cassandra

sacrificed Iphigenia

killed Niobe and Medea

and let Penelope

wither at the distaff

Life was not is not

pure pleasure for women

their blood relevant only

for a brief moment

when she gives birth

Medusa’s voice

still sings us to sleep

in these dangerous times

***

ROSE RED

Rose red dahlia red carnation

fuchsia poppy petunia

salvia tulip cosmos

hollyhock penstemon 

and red on red geranium

these are my sisters

Roots firmly planted 

drinking sun

shining water

stretching moon

fibers night and day

eons of breath

onslaught by noxious

bugs slugs thugs

from bud to wilt

Lifted through

the passages of life

from bud to seed to fruit

Subject to

the passage of time

***

 

Dr. Margaret Saine was born in Germany and lives in California. She has taught French and Hispanic literatures and writes in five languages, also translating other poets between them. Her books of poetry in English are “Bodyscapes,” “Words of Art,” “Lit Angels,” “Gardens of the Earth” and “A Book of Travel.” Saine has also published four poetry books and a childhood memoir in Germany. In 2021, a book of poems in French and in Spanish are being published in Montreal and Madrid. She has written over 5000 haiku and has several manuscripts in English, Italian, French and Spanish ready for publication.

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The Myth of Medusa Deconstructed :: Setu, March 2021