Poetry saved my life with words, and it made me closer to my community and to nature and to myself. Poetry is my teacher and my friend, and it’s my breath. I’ve always been on the periphery as a poet, as a person. But when I fully started writing, I started coming into community, and so what I try to do with words is to connect with myself and others.
This is a poem about connection, about community, and finding one’s self in nature.
The Appearance of Nothing
It is odd how I have come to be
in the fourth decade of my life
more mellow
like golden fruit.
The amount of my fullness
can surely be measured
from lessons learned
from a long line of wise women
who rescued me from the restless scarf of my teens.
I am not sure when I came to believe
in myself
trees
or the truths
of these wise women
press their message to my ear.
It seems like yesterday
their words were lost on me
released like water
through a sieve.
I remember one day
as ordinary as any other
I sashayed like wind into my mother’s kitchen
with the impatience of my youth.
Boldly declared
as I stared
into that pot of water and uncooked rice,
“Ain’t nothin’ happening.”
Chris a family friend
who had placed the pot on the eye to boil
stepped over.
Let these words roll like eggs from her tongue,
“There is something happening.”
No lecture, no leer, no tip of finger in my face
just words plump with meaning.
It took me fifteen years to squeeze the juice.
I now call these times still water moments
the place where the world sits still
the place where it feels like nothing is ever going to happen again
like a seed lying dormant
looking dead to life
nothing good
gonna ever
happen
again
no friendly voice on the phone
no letter in the box
acid rain
the drone
the drone
the drone of being alone
Then, the seed sprouts
tender green leaves
up through
rich brown dirt
up comes a flower, a prayer, a poem.
It is odd how I’ve come to believe
in the grace of God
through nothingness
rest
stillness
sleep
It is odd how I’ve learned lessons
from a long line of wise women
who barely whispered a word.
It is odd I’ve come to believe
in the appearance of nothing
the moment before water dances
that gives life to us all.
Glenis Gail Redmond
“The Appearance of Nothing”, copyright 2002 by Glenis Gail Redmond. Printed by permission of the author.
Glenis Gail Redmond. Poet. Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A. Ms. Redmond is a fellow of the Atlantic Center for the Arts and Vermont Studio Center. The author of four collections of poetry, most recently Backbone, Glenis Redmond is the subject of an award-winning video Mama’s Magic. She is the recipient of The Carrie McCray Literary Award in Poetry. Glenis Redmond tours throughout the United States, performing and teaching at schools, universities, and libraries.
