“Markham’s is a poetry
of scrims and scarves, of meaning held just out of reach—not to frustrate, but
to build a sense of wonder with layers of feeling and image without
concretizing either, which would diffuse their magic.” –Mari L’Esperance,
Connotation Press, Review of Malinda Markham’s Having Cut the Sparrow’s Heart
In response to loss of all kinds, we often turn to poetry
for solace.
And when poets lose other poets, we turn to the words of the
particular poet we lost. So I will start this post with a link to former poet and
translator Malinda Markham’s poem: Just Past this Road Lives a Figure Imprisoned in a Tower (Verse Daily, 2010).
How many times
People set out to
reach you.
Facing the day, the myriad steps and missteps of a poet’s
life, I am reminded by this loss to persevere towards connection in all my
relations, making contact, sustaining contact and connection. As a poet, I do
not necessarily view death as a barrier to communication, listening, and
connection, poetry itself--like night time dreams and astral travel—a bridge to
the other side if you believe in such comfort. I do.
Yet tangibly, in the frame of disparate bodies day by day, I
share the grief of your particular loss, Mindy, (with utmost condolences to
your family) along with those of us who spent our MFA years with you in the
heartland. Blessings. My prayer is that you rest sweetly in peace knowing you
have left a trail of beautiful poems behind you.
Further reading:
Here is a lovely review of Markham
And here is the announcement posted last week at the blog Freedom in Harmony, complete with review quotes and Amazon links to Markham
March 2015 addition: Malinda Markham: Felt Intelligence, Compassionate Interiority, also by Mari L’Esperance
March 2015 addition: Malinda Markham: Felt Intelligence, Compassionate Interiority, also by Mari L’Esperance
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