"Prayer for Werewolves" by Stephanie Burt

[radiantfracture]

This is the poem from the latest episode of Poetry Unbound.


Someone will probably love you for who you are.
   If not, you’ll still find friends,
friends who, given time, or given warning,
   will probably gather around you, hold your hands,
and wrap you in soft coats and blankets till the violence
   inside your body ends.

Someone will probably love you for who you are,
   not just for who you labor to be.
Maybe you’re lost in your skin today. Maybe you’re burning
   and wish you could tear it all off. Please don’t. You are variously
a marvel, an athlete, a wilderness, a source of warmth
   and a way to learn from fear.

When you have claws, your claws are yours, your ears
   bristle and are yours; your irises
are citrine, pure, and yours. They let you see
   through smog and pine thickets and into the future, where
you need no chains to feel secure,
   and someone will probably love you for who you are:

then you will know each other’s scents
   and nuzzle or lope together. But for
now, you have friends,
   who are not going anywhere. Please
stay here.


* * * * * *

This snuck up on me and pounced and made the tears leap to my eyes.

{rf}

Comments

[boxofdelights]

Happy birthday!

[radiantfracture]

Thank you! The poem seems like a good omen.

[yhlee]

Thank you for sharing this.

[fox]

Well, this is lovely.

[radiantfracture]

Right?

[larryhammer]

Yowsa. Nice one. Thanks for sharing.

[stealthsystem]

This is beautiful!

[radiantfracture]

isn't it? I went and bought the whole collection.

[sonia]

This snuck up on me and pounced and made the tears leap to my eyes.

Yeah me too. Thanks for posting it.

[radiantfracture]

This bit I want to allow to land in me:

Someone will probably love you for who you are,
   not just for who you labor to be.

[sonia]

Yes.

[dewline]

For passing this along!

[radiantfracture]

Excellent use of icon as text.

[sabotabby]

Oh I love this!

[contrarywise]

Stephanie Burt is a nifty person. I met her at a reading by Rachel Gold (author of "Being Emily") in Cambridge, MA a few years ago, and later listened to her being interviewed on the Fansplaining podcast. Thanks for sharing the poem!

[radiantfracture]

I met her at a reading by Rachel Gold


Oh cool! I think this is the first time I'd heard of her.

What did she talk about in the Fansplaining interview? Should I seek it out?

[contrarywise]

It's a 2-part interview, so there's a fair amount to it. Here's the synopsis of the first part:

"In this segment, they discuss poetry criticism, the similarities between fanfic and hardcore punk, taste and quality, situating your critical perspective, and the way various academic fields-—from fan studies to the English department-—treat feeeeeeeeeelings."

It's episodes 67 and 68, FYI. I enjoyed it enough to have remembered it after all this time, so you might too. :)

[radiantfracture]

This sounded so good that (although I have not listened to it yet) I went and bought the book (they had a copy at my local indie).

Thanks!

[cosmolinguist]

friends who, given time, or given warning,    will probably gather around you, hold your hands, and wrap you in soft coats and blankets till the violence    inside your body ends.

I love this image, I feel like I need this all of November and really up to my own birthday in December.

[radiantfracture]

I hope you get some of that, then.