Myra here.
Thank you to Mary Lee Hahn of A(nother) Year Of Reading for hosting this week.
Before I knew Margaret Atwood as a novelist, I knew her as a poet first – her recently published poetry book being Dearly (Amazon | Book Depository).
While The Moment is not that familiar to me, I learned as I was drafting this post that it is part of her Eating Fire (Amazon | Book Depository) collection.
The first stanza reminded me slightly of Derek Walcott’s Love After Love (see my Poetry Friday post here) with the feasting and celebration of one’s life.
However, the last two stanzas reminded me more of Cynthia Alexander’s song, Owner Of The Sky. Here is a video of this gorgeous song that I hope finds its way to you all.
Owner Of The Sky by Cynthia Alexander
Time and time again
We tread upon
The dusty earth we bed
In search for
The Owner of the Sky
We tread upon
The dusty earth we bed
In search for
The Owner of the Sky
Must I? I must! I say
Age upon age, say I,
Exalt in the search for
The Owner of the Sky
Age upon age, say I,
Exalt in the search for
The Owner of the Sky
I see sky, you see
The sky from end to end
Sees I, you see
I be now
As I be then
The sky from end to end
Sees I, you see
I be now
As I be then
Life after life I be borne
Upon the dusty path
Lay your head on the weary rock
In search for in search for
The Owner of the Sky
Upon the dusty path
Lay your head on the weary rock
In search for in search for
The Owner of the Sky
I see sky, you see
The sky from end to end
Sees I, you see
I be now as I be then
Sees I, you see
I be now as I be then
Gathering Books 
Oof. That Margaret Atwood poem speaks to me of my teaching career and I’m feeling that second stanza so much right now…
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Myra, lovely poems you shared today. I really liked the Alexander poem. These are lovely lines:
“Lay your head on the weary rock
In search for in search for
The Owner of the Sky”
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“It was always the other way round” – And I guess we abuse that relationship, too? Thanks for both powerful poems, Myra, new to me.
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Such a gentle yet strong shift and contrast between those first two stanzas. Wonderful poems of perspective.
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I love that Atwood poem, especially the last two lines. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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A wonderful poem that lulls you into thinking you know what it’s about, then takes your breath away and flips everything you thought you understood on its head. Thanks for sharing this today.
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Thank you for sharing an Atwood poem with us today. I love her work.
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