INNER VOICES
By Ruth Daigon

a door slams a child leaves
looking over her shoulder
living the mystery again and again
and the old left behind
look for gifts hidden in mirrors

in this village
all the locks open with one key
no wine no miracles

under the moon's ivoried light
the earth sighs and settles
dirt ripens
green holds the hill

but when does recognition come
like a word fighting for its breath
slipping the scent of bitter herbs
unleavened dreams
soaking our unprotected bodies

or a canary in the mine shaft of feeling
in a downpour of sound as the wind drags morning
like an echo of all the other mornings
and the meek lift their thoughts away from heaevn

ashes ashes
we all fall down

a woman opens her throat to the moon
Her breath descends like a veil on a stone flower
Her songs echo the sweet swindle of spring
where birds flutter like lost messages

where the river's dark arms are so inviting
and night blooming flowers spread their petals like
the soft mouths of women
saying something wonderful.

Ruth Daigon was founder and editor of POETS ON: for twenty years until it ceased publication. Her poems have been widely published in E mags, print mags, anthologies and collections…She was Poet-Of-The-Month on the University of Chile's Pares Cum Paribus (an E chapbook in English and Spanish). Her chapbooks appear in WEBDELSOL, THE ALSOP REVIEW, FORPOETRY, POETRYMAGAZINE, THREE CANDLE REVIEW, KOTAS'S POETRY ANTHOLOGY both in hard cover and on the WEB. some of her earlier poetry collections are "Between One Future And the Next (Papier-Mâché Press) 1995, "About A Year" (Small Poetry Press, Select Poetry Series)1996. Daigon's poetry awards include "The Ann Stanford Poetry Prize, 1997 (University of Southern California Anthology), 1997) and the Greensboro Poetry Award (Greensboro Arts Council, 2000) Her poetry collections continue with "The Moon Inside" (Gravity/Newton's Baby), 1999. She is part of Pudding House Publications Poetry Chapbook Series "Ruth Daigon's Greatest Hits 1970-2000. "Payday At The Triangle" (Small Poetry Press, Select Poets Series) based on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City,1911 was published in 2001 and one of her many readings was performed in The Lower East Side tenement Museum in Manhattan, the area where the fire occurred. Her latest poetry book is "Handfuls of Time" (Small Poetry Press, Select Poets Series) 2002, Her poetry was published by the State department in their literary exchange with Thailand and their translation program has just issued the first book of Modern American poets in English and Thai in which she appears.ruthart@aol.com