NaPoWriMo suggested “write a palinode. And what’s that? It’s a poem in which the poet retracts a statement made in an earlier poem.”
As soon as I read that I thought about writing the retraction of my poem from yesterday about longing to fly.
When I lean against the wind, my eyes closed,
the only thing that holds my trembling self
is the ground beneath my two earth-bound feet
the power of it, shaking, hot and still
the air goes winding, rushing past my ears
The ground, the very soil of it, solid
and solemn under the hungering soles
lifts me up, pushing me up like a crocus
through the icy crust of winter’s garden.
No wings to send me forward to the world
but deep full strength welling up through my feet
and flying out past my loud singing heart.
But we gave you wings. But feet firm on the earth is also good. You express both so well.