SWWIM sustains and celebrates women poets by connecting creatives across generations and by curating a living archive of contemporary poetry, while solidifying Miami as a nexus for the literary arts.

Chinese Gardens—UWI

 

Eden each morning as this place
wakes to praise cobwebs crocheted
into the grass all foliage
wet with the beads of birth

I come feet naked to the sun
my children’s footsteps splashing green
seduce my loins sweeter than lust
another life another life

The condom garlands on the ground
proclaim the irony at me
but they are dead—this garden’s calm
chinoiserie contains no passions

And I smile back for the tight buds
the lizard’s egg bird’s nest
the glow behind the hill
are things about to be

It’s time this garden bred something
beyond the tremors of
an undergraduate lust, well time
we planted something here

deep as a tomb, some seed intent
on growing. I call my children to my
knees and bless their new lives one
by one. A small breeze carries
summonses. We come.

 

Pamela Mordecai calls literature "song and story." A widow, Martin having recently departed, she is the mother of three and grandmother of one. She writes for a living (glory be to God the Mother!), entertaining both young and old this way, and has published nine collections of poetry, most recently A Fierce Green Place: New and Selected Poems (New Directions) and de book of Joseph (Mawenzi House), both out this year.


This poem first appeared with Sandberry Press and is now collected in A Fierce Green Place: New and Selected Poems (New Directions, 2022). The author grants permission.

 

 
 

Pamela Mordecai’s latest book is A Fierce Green Place: New and Selected Poems. Visit with her and her work at the Miami Book Fair 2022 on 11/19 at 1 pm virtually at MiamiBookFairOnline.com. Cover art by: Janet Hansen.

 

 
 

Welcome to SWWIM Every Day’s preview coverage of Miami Book Fair (MBF) 2021! The poets whose work you’ll be reading every weekday from October 25 through November 12 are just a few of the many authors from around the world participating in this year’s MBF, the nation’s largest gathering of writers and readers of all ages. They all look forward to sharing their work, thoughts, and ideas both in person and online. Between November 14 and November 21, new poet conversations and readings will be launched and available for free on miamibookfaironline.com (in addition to other content). For more information, visit the website and follow MBF on Instagram and Twitter at @miamibookfair and use the hashtag #miamibookfair2021.

 
 

The tires hold the road on their rims

K-Mart, San Antonio, Texas, 1986