Barbara Ann Branca
AMONG GLACIAL ERRATICS
I feel relatively young
Among great slabs of granite
Their windows of mica seeing the past
From whence came these behemoths
Some basaltic and brooding?
Their calendar does not abide by yours
Measured in millions of lifetimes
Yet the beach only in thousands
The wind the current the tide
Beholden to the ancient moon
Take their measure
Hold the waves up like blue glass cups
Not breaking them till
They can hold no longer
Crashing onto the quartz moraine
Sparkling with golden jingle shells
Waves surge onto the stone-faced boulder
That will not change visage in my lifetime
To it I give up my burdens
Release the stones around my neck
Glacial boulder: restore my youth
Wave: bathe my spirit
Wind: make my soul flutter
And take flight
BARBARA ANN BRANCA, whose work has been published in numerous anthologies, is a performance poet, science author and educator who has read poems from her chapbook, FLASH FLOOD, on National Public Radio and venues throughout NYC and Long Island. Barbara is also an accomplished jazz singer.