“if” is a conjunction

With Lucille Clifton

if there is a river

more beautiful than this

bright as the blood

red edge of the moon if

i can conjure such

radiance and safety

as expressed shelter

then my task as woman

will be quenched.

yes, moon, yes, calendar

if there is a river

that will cleanse

my generous

innermost abyss,

then echo syllables

of consonance.

after all, red is a wish,

more beautiful than this

—this river that men call foul

and view a girl infirm

though they brood

if she does not breed.

yes, a woman pronounces

her throbbing inside

bright as the blood,

reliable as the planets.

kind as the cocoon.

crafty as paper.

i know girls who’ve gone

mad. some left us livid.

we owe them, to commune

with the red edge of the moon if

Notes:

“Not Too Hard to Master” is a series of poets writing on form and sharing a prompt. Read Kimiko Hahn’s “Medieval-Style Sampling: The Glosa” and “Elizabeth’s Cabeza,” as well as her writing prompt on the glosa.

Source: Poetry (October 2023)