Oops–I almost forgot to post a poem today! That certainly wouldn’t do on the penultimate day of National Poetry Month, now would it? Here’s today’s, from a collection entitled Mortar & Pestle. Enjoy!

Matricaria recutita / Chamomile

Some plants thrive even when walked on.

Resilience can seem so dowdy,
so hard pressed,
so forgiving.

It’s not like I want to accept every slight
or boot on my skull.
I’m stubborn.

Look at my brow.
Still knit.
You should be able to read between the lines.

When did I learn to resist recovery?
In the womb?
After eating an apple?

Tonight give me a tablespoon of temperate
and teach me
that healing is not succumbing.

I can swallow it—
a rotten day with terminal flowers
anyhow.

Look at my brow.
I am unknitting a sad myth.
Pride.

There are better things to consecrate:
modest resurrections
and different kinds of uprisings.

Tomorrow I may try plain speech.

–Lisa Gill, 2006