The flame
cupped so long in the hold
with the shackles and rations
braves
its bright tongue
to the air
and catching now
its light pours forth like the waters
shining our eyes
***
With gratitude to President Barack Obama
and his beautiful family for their courage,
grace and example of excellence.
They inspire me to look inward
at what is yet guarded and undeveloped
and then give that light more fully to the world.
We all travel a middle passage
from what we have believed possible
to what we must make possible.
May we each of us come to arrive on the terrain
of our real, unfolding lives
and these exciting unfolding times.
In Joy!
Rachel Jamison Webster
***
The New World II
About Me
- Rachel Jamison Webster
- I grew up in the small town of Madison, Ohio, and now live in Evanston, IL, where I am an Artist in Residence (in poetry) at Northwestern University. I also edit the online anthology of international poetry, UniVerse, located at www.universeofpoetry.org. My poems have been published in many journals, including Poetry, The Southern Review, The Madison Review, Perihelion and blossombones, and I have won a few awards for my writing and teaching, including an Academy of American Poets' Young Poets Prize. For several years, I created and taught writing workshops for city teens, and in this capacity, co-edited two anthologies of writing by Chicago youth, Alchemy (2001) and Paper Atrium (2005). I have my MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. I am happy to give readings or workshops, and may be contacted at r-webster@northwestern.edu. Thank you for reading, and best wishes to you.
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