Archive of New Mexico Poetry – Joan Logghe

Surrender

I took off my watch
When labor began.
For weeks there was only
Time of cries and breezes
Only the time of iris
Bloom

The day was spring
And so was the hour.
The minute was milk
And the feeling.
Days turned over
And over, like a chorus
Of lull, hush, and swaddle.
Pins fastening, unfastening
And slow closing
Of fontanels.

I was in love with fists
And knuckles.
It was surrender
As total as a country
Under white flags Taken over by
Legions of peace.

About the Poet
This poem is from Joan Logghe’s most recent collection, Blessed Resistance (Mariposa Books). She and her family live in La Puebla, New Mexico in a solar home, along with two horses, and chickens too numerous to mention here by name.