Azimuth
Sundials, moon dials,
with these at least I feel
at ease, calibrated as I am
to east of one, west of the other.
My parents and false sisters
unseen since my wanderings
began, I take bearings only
from the arc of horizon.
In slavery, I suffer the scourges
wielded by Worry and Sorrow,
the goddess’s handmaidens, I am
tasked to sort seed from grain.
Ants and wool-whispering reeds aid
me in Aphrodite’s trials. From Hades
I’ll fetch water, a golden box. They say
I am that from which all thought arises.
No immortal dares to champion me
in my questing. I carry honeycakes
for the dog’s three heads, coins in my mouth for the ferryman.
Vehicle
My sleep life is murky, I wake new
every day banded with light, blink myself
into shape & pour a cup of that poison
I infuse with hope it will put things right.
My path is obscure, I walk in air
brittle as crystal, snow underfoot. Faces
are blanked with windshield glare. I don’t
know how to ask for help on my route.
My liftoff deferred, I navigate curves
with a strong sense of winging, corolla whorl
weightless in sky. Yet, grip tight on wheel,
all I observe are my futile efforts to soar.
My memory muddled, I will never arrive
at a highway’s end without wondering where
it comes from. The spark that ignites makes
the past come alive—a smile, a valiant blue.
The world is still strange, but I tiptoe round
ledges in sweet wash of freedom, wild mind
defined, gather up sea-glass & pebbles as pledges,
sure that learning to steer isn’t learning to drive.
Frances Boyle is a Canadian writer, living in Ottawa. Her books include This White Nest, poetry (2019), Seeking Shade, short stories (2020) and Tower, a novella (2018). Her third poetry collection, Openwork and Limestone, is forthcoming in fall 2022. Frances’s writing has appeared throughout North America and internationally, with recent and forthcoming work in Blackbird, Paris Lit Up, EX/POST Magazine, Daily Drunk’s Marvelous Verses Anthology and elsewhere. Visit www.francesboyle.com and follow @francesboyle19 on Twitter and Instagram.
RESURRECTION mag 