Libyan Sybil, by Peter Tolly

Olive Tree, photograph by Peter Tolly (USA). Contemporary.

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.

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy), c. 1510-11.