Cup of Silver Ginger, by Martin Willitts Jr

Cup of Silver Ginger, by Georgia O'Keeffe (USA) 1939

Cup of Silver Ginger
            
The lime-green in the centre is
a Hawaiian island. In this enigmatic forest, 
we find what we’ve never seen before 
is now happening. This sensuous opening 
of pink and white flowers,
protecting us from spirits.
 
She was peeling open a gateway, 
trying to have us focus 
on the close-up details, like a camera,
like a woman knowing
the world can be welcoming — a ritual 
for healing, and she has the cure.
 
She wanted to take this cup and drink it, 
take our pain like communion,
open whatever closed us off from each other,
present this image
that could swallow our concerns.
 
She did not walk gingerly, 
but thrust forward 
the only world she believed in.
 
Take this cup, she offered generously, 
in remembrance of me.
 ​

Martin Willitts Jr

Martin Willitts Jr has 24 chapbooks including the Turtle Island Quarterly Editor's Choice Award, The Wire Fence Holding Back the World (Flowstone Press, 2017), plus 16 full-length collections including the Blue Light Award 2019, The Temporary World. His recent book is Unfolding Towards Love (Wipf and Stock).