an incantation to lift grief
poetry by Scott-Patrick Mitchell
an incantation to lift grief
for my sister (1968-2012)
come through, oh soft poem of grief:
your tiny wings breathe into me
show places where ache has sheathed
how windows can now open to allow
breeze & i am dancing i am dancing
come through, oh mother how it hurts:
your compassion a lantern guiding
me back to me, how tears are familial,
so welcome in your empathy, laughter
as hot as tea & just as soothing &
i love you i love you i love you
come through, oh healing of this hurt:
show me how my mouth has become
cathedral of love & saying your name is
prayer & ritual, a spirit lifting in
benediction, my dreams into reality
i am speaking i am speaking i am speaking
come through, oh smile i have missed you:
for too long you reminded me of her, gone
but now i welcome the haunting, because
to draw her back is to draw her near, here,
reflected in mirrored glass, a doorway to
the past, how she speaks from between my
lips & i am smiling i am smiling & i am
crying
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Scott-Patrick Mitchell is a non-binary performance poet who lives and writes on Whadjuk Noongar Land in Western Australia. SPM's poetry and writing appears in journals such as Island, Southerly, Westerly, Cordite, Rabbit and Baby Teeth Journal, as well as anthologies such as Contemporary Australian Poetry and Stories Of Perth.