The Brooklyn Rail

APRIL 2023

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APRIL 2023 Issue
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Millefleurs

Madeline Gilmore, photo of postcard from Museum of Fine Arts Boston showing <em>Mille Fleurs with Putti </em>(detail), ca. 1600. Wool and silk tapestry. Courtesy the author.
Madeline Gilmore, photo of postcard from Museum of Fine Arts Boston showing Mille Fleurs with Putti (detail), ca. 1600. Wool and silk tapestry. Courtesy the author.


Millefleurs



Some days, when I am
a blip in the universe,
I open the card
with its tapestry top.


Grandma knows: poetry
takes some strength,
just like weaving
threads, weft and warp,


loom-crossed, the handwork
and hours becoming cord
around a cherub’s waist,
deep blue field of flowers,


strange order in the air
of daytime moon,
half shadow of open vessel
and a glance back.


This world will not hold you,
nor are there boundaries
to the path. There is only
the invisible line drawn


from the open palm,
only gestures of connection,
that fragile thing,
uplifting the child without wings.

Contributor

Madeline Gilmore

Madeline Gilmore is a poet and editor living in Brooklyn, NY. She is the co-editor of Volume Poetry, and her website is www.madelinegilmore.com.

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The Brooklyn Rail

APRIL 2023

All Issues