NATIONAL POEM WRITING MONTH

30 Poems in 30 Days (well, 30 drafts) 

Day 1

With thanks to Kate Fox, who said, you have to get a poem out of this.

And a note to readers: A cento is a poem made up of lines from other poems; all of the lines in this poem are from the 96th line in a long poem, or the 96th poem in a long series, so for example one of these lines is from the 96th Psalm, one from the Pearl Poet, one from Dante. I have rearranged this, oh, a thousand times this morning, retranslated, still  working.

A CENTO ON MY MOTHER'S 96 DAFFODILS

A reminiscence of departed love

had a sweet regretful power,

the splendor bright of that display:

a lute, a drum, a flower...

          And limitless are leaves,
          stiff or drooping in the fields,
          let the field be joyful,
          live for generations,
                 imitate the shade of my mother:
                 the golden eternity of blissful safety.
         
          Within us is a universe as well.
          After such great wonder
          other eyes will see spring,
                 what I have seen transcends.