Petition on Santorini by Stephen Yenser

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend November 11, 2014   Petition on Santorini   Stephen Yenser

Mother of Stone, Cybele, Stone Mother, keep me low, Resigned, involved, confusable As to the novice eye the vine With wild thyme and caper, close To your chemic soil— Ash, tuff, and pumice—twined In on itself to stand Up under summer wind And to condense the sure, sheer mist That plumps until night harvest Fruit tanged with sulfur, pressed Then to a salt-tinged must, Oak barrel ready, A bit acidic, wit-dry, heady.            Copyright © 2014 by Stephen Yenser. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “Before being assimilated to Greece, Cybele was a mother goddess said to be ‘born of stone’ partly because her worship originated in the Anatolian mountains. She seemed to be the appropriate deity to invoke during my stay on arid Santorini, a volcanic island known in part for cultivation of the Assyrtiko grape.” —Stephen Yenser   Stephen Yenser is the author of Blue Guide (University of Chicago Press, 2006). He directs the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of California, Los Angeles and lives in Los Angeles. Most Recent Book by Yenser   Blue Guide (University of Chicago Press, 2006) "Complaint of Achilles' Heel" by Charles Jensen "The Last Known Sighting of the Mapinguari" by Traci Brimhall "Elegy in Limestone" by CJ Evans Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038