Poem of the Day: Walk Softly (by Alice Schertle)

I love the book keepers (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996), by fantastic poet Alice Schertle (illustrated by Ted Rand). The connection between the poems is tenuous to me. Supposedly, the poems all represent special moments and feelings, or "keepers." It feels more like a marketing add-on than anything inherent in the poems to me. BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that these are wonderful poems! And here’s one of my favorites. I love the haunting, secretive feeling to this one in particular.

Walk Softly

Walk softly
in this wood,
where listtle wispy things
in gown and hood
slide down the dark
and fold their wings.

Shy and hidden
shadow things
of pipe and ring
and strange remembered power.
Shadow voices
high and thin
quiver in the wind
this witching hour.

Little fragile fading things
turn watchful eyes
upon me as I pass–
a sudden rustle in the grass
as something flees
before my awful
bone and blood.
Walk softly
in this wood.

P.S. AFTER choosing this poem and writing this post, I found a brief bio of Schertle while looking for a site to link to. And I learned that her birthday is April 7, the day this post will go live. Sometimes life is odd.

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