Ashley Parker Owens
Ilmatar
Sky had a daughter
seeking a resting place
her name was Ilmatar
she descended to the waters
swam & floated for 700 years
until she noticed a bird
searching for a place to rest
she bent her leg
raised her knee
& gestured towards the bird
offering a place to land
it soared toward her
grabbed her knee
and went to sleep
the bird laid six gold eggs
& one of iron
during incubation her knee grew warm
and at the burn she jerked
and dislodged the eggs
which fell
& burst in the waters
land was formed from
shattered eggshells
sky formed from
the whites & turned
into moon & stars
the yolk became sun
she spent another hundred years
floating in the waters
admiring her broken eggs
until she could not resist
her urge to create
and rising, she walked
her footprints filling pools for fish
& by pointing
she created contours in the land.
Ashley Parker Owens is a writer and poet living in Richmond, Kentucky. She is unmarried with one boyfriend, one daughter, three cats, and two MFAs.
Ilmatar
Sky had a daughter
seeking a resting place
her name was Ilmatar
she descended to the waters
swam & floated for 700 years
until she noticed a bird
searching for a place to rest
she bent her leg
raised her knee
& gestured towards the bird
offering a place to land
it soared toward her
grabbed her knee
and went to sleep
the bird laid six gold eggs
& one of iron
during incubation her knee grew warm
and at the burn she jerked
and dislodged the eggs
which fell
& burst in the waters
land was formed from
shattered eggshells
sky formed from
the whites & turned
into moon & stars
the yolk became sun
she spent another hundred years
floating in the waters
admiring her broken eggs
until she could not resist
her urge to create
and rising, she walked
her footprints filling pools for fish
& by pointing
she created contours in the land.
Ashley Parker Owens is a writer and poet living in Richmond, Kentucky. She is unmarried with one boyfriend, one daughter, three cats, and two MFAs.