Vox Populi
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Meg Kearney: Two Sonnets
Heart Quartet
And what emotional impulse leads you
to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers
for sleeping, for weeping, and remember
the chamber for repair—of course you do;
something’s always broken, in need of glue
or stitches, penitent kisses, or—stranger—
a pericardial window to release the flood waters
rising as you write. Last, there is the room you
pay a price to enter, that private hall
the rising torrent will someday breach,
which you will do your best to deny
(This isn’t how things end—this won’t be all!)
until the heart—stillness its new-found niche—
no longer cares about the when or the why.
~~~
Magpie
…from the time of Noah’s ark, magpies have had a reputation for chattering. Magpies were said to be the only creatures that would not go into the ark, preferring to perch on the roof chattering…
—from 100 Birds and How They Got Their Names
They say I talk too much. That Magpie, she’s
a chatterer, they say—Rather than ride
inside the ark with us, she perches
on the roof and croons away, just to please
herself while the whole world drowns. Horrified
I risk the storm to speak (rain merciless
for thirty days now, with no sign of stopping)
they act as if they’ve been sitting in church
while I’ve frolicked like the Devil’s mistress.
Of course there are some who think women should
keep their beaks shut, just look pretty while mopping
everyone’s shit off the floor. But tell me this:
if they all play it safe, simply wait for an end to the flood,
then who else will sing the song of witness?
~~~~
Meg Kearney’s All Morning the Crows won the 2020 Washington Prize for poetry. She is also a prolific writer of books for young adults and children.
Heart Quartet copyright 2024. First published in Under a Warm Green Linden (summer 2024). Magpie copyright 2025.
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For some reason I can’t “like” any of the comments people have made, but please know that they are deeply appreciated!!!
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Sorry for our wanky web platform. It’s like a teenager who refuses to do simple chores.
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” . . . who else will sing the song of witness?”
I love these sonnets.
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I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
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I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
LikeLike
I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
LikeLike
I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
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Oh yes. A brilliant combination of anatomy and experience…
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I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this way to consider the chambers of the heart:
“to speak of the heart, that cliché, its chambers/
for sleeping, for weeping…”
LikeLike
What joy to read two sonnets by Meg Kearney this morning — how deft she is at enjambing rhymes (perfect, or off or slant: they always flow so well!) She is our best contemporary sonneteer in my opinion & heart. And her sonnets are so ardent!
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I agree completely, Laure-Anne. Meg is our best sonneteer!
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f they all play it safe, simply wait for an end to the flood,
then who else will sing the song of witness?
Thank you most of all, Meg, for these two lines.
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Thank you, all–your comments were a balm after a crazy day!
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Oh, how I love poems about birds–nightingales, crows, and now this magpie. The birds are twittering in my garden right now, all in conversation with the breath of the world . Thank you, Meg.
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Thanks for these, Meg! You are cooking on all four burners. XO
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Love, LOVE them. Especially the chattering magpie.
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Me too!
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These are lovely! Thank you, Meg, for writing, and Michael, for posting.
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Thanks, Rachel. I love Meg’s sonnets.
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This didn’t post.
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Hi Robbie, I apologize for our wanky WordPress web platform.The poem is on the homepage now.
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