Friday, November 15, 2019

From Pratik's Current Issue: "Rowan Woman" by Mandy Haggith



Rowan Woman

The eagle, demon-torn, crashed to earth.
Its head buried into soil,
beak rasped through stone,
eyes and brain rooted to a tree-form.

Above ground, wood-bones branched
feather-leaved. Blood became berries
seeded with life. So, to Greeks,
the rowan was born.

Vikings went the other way: took wood
and shaped a spine, legs, arms, head,
filled out flesh with berries,
adorned the skull with leaves.

There she was, the girl. Here I am,
the woman, finally understanding why
I need to be rooted, yet always felt
I fell from the sky.


Mandy Haggith is a Scottish poet, novelist, and environmental activist from Northumberland. Since 1999 she has lived on a coastal wooded croft in Assynt. Her environmental stewardship has included advising for a Scottish Member of Parliament and working for Greenpeace, WWF, Fern and Taiga Rescue Network. She presently lectures on Literature and Creative Writing at the University of the Highlands and Islands.  




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