STATE LINES
Poetry rooted in the physical world is a kind of embodied knowledge. San Francisco poet laureate Kim Shuck demonstrates this relationship in her poem “To Visit the Missions.” The mountains, hills and running water in the first stanza deliver her to the peaceful meditation that prevails in the second and third. Usually, pastoral poems feature the poet entering a state of calm or reverie during a visit to nature, or immediately afterward. Shuck appears to savor her trip, knowing that fresh memories of it will provide her with images and music she can draw on later for her spiritual art. The visual and tactile details in the Shuck’s final stanza are particularly rich.
To Visit the Missions
Mountains ease to hills Define the limits of this valley Somewhere north they Come together in a tumble near water and I reach home Part of this pilgrimage involves water Way I understand things Water, music, smoke Old prayers and Nearly universal Later this week I’ll Sit down with the images My cane flute Sing of disconnecting my anger Close my eyes and see Hand drilled stone beads Rhythm in my hands Tongue tip Jingle saints’ medals in the other hand Extract each emotional filament for Use elsewhere. Reprinted from “Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry From California,” edited by Kurt Schweigman and Lucille Lang Day. Copyright 2017 by Scarlet Tanager Books
Kim Shuck was born in San Francisco and lives in Eureka Valley in a house that has sheltered five generations of her family. She is the author of one chapbook and three full-length poetry collections, including “Clouds Running In.”