Gayle Lauradunn
Here I stand
in this circle of light
feet firm upon
the ground. Plump arms rest
easily. A breeze stirs
long hair. This is
how I stand.
I stand here
in the curves of my body.
My body teaches me
of birth, of love, of death.
My body speaks to me
through the texture
of skin.
Now I stand
in this circle of light
with a child, a sword,
a pen, a ledger,
a violin, a rose.
* after Virginia Woolf
Gayle Lauradunn’s poems tell stories. Her third book, The Geography of Absence, appeared last year. Poems have appeared in journals, online, and in national and international anthologies.