Kathleen Norris :: A Prayer to Eve
Portland, OR :: I’ve been on a bit of a Kathleen Norris jag. First I read “Acedia & Me,” then “The Virgin of Bennington.” Next I’ll read “Dakota.” I plan to re-read “Cloister Walk” for an essay I have to write, and today I started Norris’ poetry collection “Little Girls in Church.” The first poem in the collection was so lovely, and so to the purpose, that I plan to post it somewhere in our RV/camper/trailer, when we get all that straightened out.
“A Prayer to Eve”
Mother of fictions
and of irony,
help us to laugh.
Mother of science
and of the critical method,
keep us humble.
Muse of listeners,
hope of interpreters,
inspire us to act.
Bless our metaphors,
that we might eat them.
Help us to know, Eve,
the one thing we must do.
Come with us, muse of exile,
mother of the road.
4 comments
hi john. hope you’re well. your project sounds so cool. if you end up in south carolina or hereabouts, send word. i’d love to see you all and would be happy to put you up.
safe travels.
ali
Thanks, Ali. Our plan is to hit all 50 states. But even if we had no other reason to visit South Carolina, we would still head there just for a chance to see you. You’re working on your Ph.D., right? Something about women writers of the south? (Sorry if I’m way off.) I ask because I want to make a pilgrimage to Milledgeville, Georgia, and you can guess why. Have you been down there?
I love this poem.
I am doing research for my university paper, thanks for your useful points, now I am acting on a sudden impulse.
- Lora
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