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Libyan Sybil, by Peter Tolly

1/13/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
Olive Tree, photograph by Peter Tolly (USA). Contemporary.
Picture
The Libyan Sibyl (Sistine Chapel), Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy), 1508-12.
Libyan Sibyl

I did not expect to see you in the flesh
of an olive tree,
thigh-deep in dust and gravel,

pelvic torque powerful enough 
to draw dampness
from the dark heart of the hillside.

Hips and shoulders twist in ecstatic offering,
fingertips lifting shallow bowls 
of long-leached water to the sun

in exchange for a wreath, laden 
with oil-ripe clusters:
a glaucous icon of virility.

I reach into your throat, tapping.
Weathered knots give wooden notes:
a seer does not sing without a question.​

Peter Tolly


Peter Tolly has studied and practiced creative writing at Northwestern University
--where his poetry earned the Faricy Award in first place and appeared in the campus literary magazine Prompt--and more recently at the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece. He is currently based in Wisconsin.
Picture
Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy), c. 1510-11.
1 Comment
Ann Tolly
1/13/2018 01:55:48 pm

Peter, your writing is beautiful! You took us right to the spot in your writing. You have a strong gift to bring words of beauty and you share the quietness that is there, to your readers. Thank you for sharing both the pictures and poem. It is a keeper!

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