Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Poetry Library Southbank Centre - The Poetry Library housing the Arts Council Collection at Southbank Centre

« Previous item
Contents of this issue
Next item »

Leah Fritz

print this page

Leah's Song

‘Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well-favoured’.
                                                                            Genesis, 29:17


And God was full of His mysterious ways.
Rebecca served him, sending Jacob in
his brother’s place, as I was sent, amazed,
to Jacob’s arms, to bear him sons, and win.

I was the ugly daughter with weak eyes,
the right myopic, though the left saw far.
Strange family we were, as if at war.
My eyes ignored each other, Jacob’s lies.

Why did we sisters quarrel in that nest
of knaves over a scheming hired hand
who stole our father’s livestock and then ran
away with all his grandsons, and was - blessed?

When we were young, she hung on every word
I said, the older and the wiser one,
neither knowing, then, how beauty cursed
us in the field that day, our playing done,

our wombs the battleground where men would fight
for clones and clones of clones as living proof
of their fecundity, eternal youth.
And we got old, and vanished from their sight..

Unseen, we saw;  became ourselves, and friends.
Old age does women wonders in the end.

Page(s) 22

Back to top