Barbara Colebrook Peace was born in northern England, but now makes her home in Victoria, BC. She is the author of two poetry collections (both published by Sono Nis Press); her newest book Duet for Wings and Earth was a joint winner (with my own book Poiema) for a national poetry award from The Word Guild in 2009. Duet for Wings and Earth is a beautiful Christmas collection consisting of poems which were, year-after-year, written for the Christmas concert at St. George the Martyr Church in Cadboro Bay. The poems are written from the points-of-view of various characters from the Christmas story, such as: Mary, Joseph, God, the sheep, the donkey, or — as in the following case — the moon.
Song of the Moon
In my beginning, when I was nought,
you called my name
as if I were already there
-------------------------------------Let there be Moon!
And I was...Moon?
-------------------------Moon.
I have counted the years as I spin around the earth around the sun
as a tree also counts its life in circles, laying down the rings.
And the years have been long enough only to begin
the study of my craft, the art you gave me at birth:
how to bless the earth with moonlight
Now, on this night of your birth,
we meet for the first time face to face, Moon and human,
and I (entering above the half-door of the stable,
praising the hollow of Mary’s arm, the pool of shadows
round the manger, and touching
lightly your head)
now render back to you, as you begin from nought,
and lay down at your feet
your gift to me of moonlight.
(Posted with permission of the poet)
Read my review of Barbara Colebrook Peace's poetry collection
Duet for Wings and Earth here
Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the award-winning author of the poetry collections Poiema (Wipf & Stock) and So The Moon Would Not Be Swallowed (Rubicon Press). They are both available at: www.dsmartin.ca
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