[PW] Missing poem, missing poet

Fri Feb 8 13:49:03 PST 2008

For what it's worth, there was a medieval Russian Saint Macarius who founded a monastery on the shore of Lake Unzha.  There were various other Russian and Egyptian saints named Macarius, but none had anything to do with England, and the only Unzen in the Geonames database (http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp) is in Japan. 

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-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-open-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org [mailto:project-wombat-open-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of Burton, Donna 
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 3:45 PM
To: jcezanne at jeannettecezanne.com
Cc: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: Re: [PW] Missing poem, missing poet

Some negatives: She's not listed in Literature Online, MLA Bibliography or Biography and Genealogy Master Index. 

I did find she'd been awarded something called the Hopwood Prize in 1978, no other real info except on Hopwood: http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/hopwood/

There's another poem by her called "Truer Gifts" in Google Books: http://tinyurl.com/3bkm6d

Donna Burton
Schaffer Library, Union College
Schenectady, NY 12308
burtond at union.edu

________________________________

From: project-wombat-open-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org on behalf of Jeannette Cézanne
Sent: Fri 2/8/2008 3:32 PM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: [PW] Missing poem, missing poet

Many years ago in a waiting room I came across a poem in The New Yorker, which I proceeded to copy out for my own use. It was written by someone called Lisa Leafstrand. I've been trying to find out more about the poet, whether she has other material available, and even possibly some reprint rights for this poem.

I'm copying the whole of the poem below. Any information about it or the poet would be greatly appreciated.

************

Icon: Saint Macarius beside his island monastery of Unzen, leaving England

The roses are dead in the sun;
crusted stalks hang in the heat, undone
by the ache at the end of things

the edges of bells striking the evening
this empty room and the Oxford moon
flat through the glass. It cannot last

the rose incense of summer
and the green, worn corners behind facades the gods of grey churches,

the cloisters and the graves,
must brood among the weeds and tangled stones Home is far and fearfully drawing nearer,

hardly ready to receive such explicit
portraits of kings and ruined abbeys
or pictures of this place when it was full

and fair, and eased the morning through the curtain folds spires trembled to meet the air, thick with the abrupt smell of rain.

The pain is forgetting the colour of roses in the wet wind, when they have been twisted too soon by the sun.

  --- Lisa Leafstrand

***********

Many thanks!

Jeannette
***
Jeannette Cezanne, enriching readers' lives ... one book at a time.
http://www.JeannetteCezanne.com <http://www.jeannettecezanne.com/>
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