Kathleen Gunton
Ablaze -A. Poulin, Jr: Cento* I’ve fallen asleep to the rhythmOf the stars. This gift that makes our bodies acheEnameled angels waitAblaze with shafts of lightning The tongues of memory burningTenderness and terrorAs if to bless the cosmos for this OneYou are the light my shadow sheds Stars plummet into distant seas, the windA pure language all your own:I’ve been expecting youToday, I bring you home *Each line is drawn from a different poemin A. Poulin’s collection, A Momentary Order. The Air of an Old Benediction -Madeline DeFrees: Cento* At the hour of deathDense longingFrom which this poem grows. Hold on toThe air of an old benediction: Memory—What the sea says to the listenerHear those bells under water?The shaken bell of every iris ringsMiles from the difficult shoreHere is my claim: I need to come into my ownMy retrieval systemYour poems. Make good things happen! The light comesIn the life to come. I unravel and let downFlights of imagination, leaving no room for regret Heaven—this is my homeAnd you, my sister, my friendI roll the pebble of this word on my tongue, feelThe miles I’ve come to find this land *Each line is drawn from a different poem inMadeline DeFrees’ collection, Blue Dusk. Exhale the Stars -Jean Burden: Cento* AfterwardsWe lean toward lightSun and sunset meetNothing in Love is left untouchedBlind with lightI exhale the starsAnd I am caught forever in an unfinished poemVelvet to your poet’s eyeThis gift enduresFor travelers who are lostIts circle of memory and lightIs the poem *Each line is drawn from a different poem inJean Burden’s collection, Taking Light FromEach Other. Kathleen Gunton is a poet/photographer. She believes one art feeds another. Often her words and images appear in the same journal. Over 50 of her cento poems appear in literary and faith-based publications such as Commonweal, Rhino, Lalitamba, Studio One, Ellipsis, and First Things--to name a few.