Ah, Ah

by Joy Harjo

for Lurline McGregor

Ah, ah cries the crow arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.
Lands on the crown of the palm tree.

Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.
We carry canoes to the edge of the salt.

Ah, ah groans the crew with the weight, the winds cutting skin.
We claim our seats. Pelicans perch in the draft for fish.

Ah, ah beats our lungs and we are racing into the waves.
Though there are worlds below us and above us, we are straight ahead.

Ah, ah tattoos the engines of your plane against the sky—away from these waters.
Each paddle stroke follows the curve from reach to loss.

Ah, ah calls the sun from a fishing boat with a pale, yellow sail. We fly by
on our return, over the net of eternity thrown out for stars.

Ah, ah scrapes the hull of my soul. Ah, ah.

Source: How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems: 1975-2001 (W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 2002

Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.

won’t you celebrate with me

by Lucille Clifton

won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

Lucille Clifton, “won’t you celebrate with me” from Book of Light. Copyright © 1993 by Lucille Clifton. Source: Book of Light (Copper Canyon Press, 1993)

Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.

Fox

by Mary Oliver

You don’t ever know where
a sentence will take you, depending
on its roll and fold. I was walking
over the dunes when I saw
the red fox asleep under the green
branches of the pine. It flared up
in the sweet order of its being,
the tail that was over the muzzle
lifting in airy amazement
and the fire of the eyes followed
and the pricked ears and the thin
barrel body and the four
athletic legs in their black stockings and it
came to me how the polish of the world changes
everything. I was hot I was cold I was almost
dead of delight. Of course the mind keeps
cool in its hidden palace—yes, the mind takes
a long time, is otherwise occupied than by
happiness, and deep breathing. Still,
at last, it comes too, running
like a wild thing, to be taken
with its twin sister, breath. So I stood
on the pale, peach-colored sand, watching the fox
as it opened like a flower, and I began
softly, to pick among the vast assortment of words
that it should run again and again across the page
that you again and again should shiver with praise.

from West Wind, Mariner Books, ©1997

Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.

The Waking (1948)

by Theodore Roethke

I strolled across 
An open field; 
The sun was out; 
Heat was happy.

This way! This way! 
The wren’s throat shimmered,
Either to other, 
The blossoms sang.

The stones sang,
The little ones did, 
And flowers jumped 
Like small goats.

A ragged fringe 
Of daisies waved; 
I wasn’t alone
In a grove of apples.

Far in the wood 
A nestling sighed; 
The dew loosened 
Its morning smells.

I came where the river 
Ran over stones: 
My ears knew 
An early joy.

And all the waters 
Of all the streams 
Sang in my veins 
That summer day.

Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.

Dafa Rafet

by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Yaay, Baay, and Goonay, Someplace in the Gambia, c. 1756

When the mother and child
walk from the village
to gather fruit, faces
recite quotidian love.
                         Do you have peace
                        (Waw, waw, diam rek)
Then, they are alone, and the toddler
points out the fat-bottomed
baobab, the mango
with its frustrating reach.
Mother pierces a low-hanging
jewel, and her small
shadow trills gratitude.
                         Yaay, you are so nice
                          (Waw, waw)
                          Yaay, I love you so
                          (Waw, waw)
No demonstration, but a hand
touching the tender head
that was braided over cries.
Later that night,
the father must listen, too.
                           Baay, I ate a mango
                          (Waw, waw)
                          Baay, I saw a bug
                          (Waw, waw)
The child sits closer
to his mat,
whispers ambiguous lights:
                           I know all the things—
and he does not answer,
but smiles at his wife:
their daughter is a marvel
and they must pray for humility.

from The Age of Phillis, Wesleyan, ©2020

Most Poetry will post a poem on the theme of joy and celebration, selected by our members, each day through the month of September.