Lesbian Poetry Retrospective Part 1

I read her poem "Autumn Sonnet" from a collection of gay and lesbian poetry. It's a beautiful, poignant yet hopeful reflection on moving on. This poem really got to me, at a time when I was trying to get over someone who could never be mine:

If I can let you go as trees let go
Their leaves, so casually, one by one;
If I can come to know what they do know,
That fall is the release, the consummation,

Then fear of time and the uncertain fruit
Would not distemper the great lucid skies
This strangest autumn, mellow and acute.

If I can take the dark with open eyes
And call it seasonal, not harsh or strange
(for love itself may need a time of sleep)
And, treelike, stand unmoved before the change,
Lose what I lose to keep what I can keep,
The strong root still alive under the snow,
Love will endure - if I can let you go.
-May Sarton (1972) 

"If she had touched me, I would've been hers and not my own. Not ever again." - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

I'd be remiss if I didn't add Edna St. Vincent Millay to the list. She's surely one of the most renowned, especially Afternoon on a Hill:

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.   

I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!

Come on, you must include Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Witch-Wife

She is neither pink nor pale,
And she never will be all mine; 
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.

She has more hair than she needs;
In the sun ‘tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of coloured beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.

She loves me all that she can,
And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,

And she never will be all mine. 

I don't believe that there is anyone here that cannot relate to that. 

My book of Edna St. Vincent Millay poems is one of the few books of poetry I travel with.

These are a few of my favorite lines.

These lines are from one of the best poems about grief I've read:

"There are a hundred places where I fear
to go, - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, "There is  no memory of him here!"
And so stand stricken, so remembering him."

And this one about a lost love: 

I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

And then of course, there's the classic "First Fig," the patron poem of workaholics like me:

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light!

Plus there's all the poems about being underestimated because she's a woman, which I love.

Too many great ones to list, really!

i want to say how fantastic it is to have something on poetry, too many people are dismissive of it, i fear. however (and i guess it's to be expected on an american site), with the exception of sappho, all your featured poets are americans. what about carol anne duffy? tipped to be the next british poet laurete, possibly one of our most popular contemporary poets. what about jackie kay (who admittedly is a better prose writer than poet, but even so), what about ua fanthorpe?

still brilliant to see though, and thanks!

Audre Lorde! I fell in love with her book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name when I took an english class last year in college, and her book was a required reading. She's such an amazing writer. Best book that I had to read that was required thus far.

:) 

Rapture by Carol Anne Duffy (Scottish)

Book of love poems written like a narrative, about an affair, from begining to end. She has had a fairly high profile lesbian relationship in the past, with another well known writer.

Here's the first poem:

Falling in love

is glamorous hell;

the crouched, parched heart

like a tiger ready to kill;

a flame's fierce licks under the skin.

Into my life,

larger than life,

beautiful, you strolled in.'

Exquisite and lyrical...I devoured the whole book in one sitting :)

Carol Ann Duffy is an esquisite poet.  There are very few poets who can write so bluntly and yet so lyrically.  She is also technically brilliant.  The structure of her poetry is interestingly in contrast to her modern themes and voice.

'Warming Her Pearls' is a beautiful and erotic love poem. 

Warming Her Pearls
for Judith Radstone

Next to my own skin, her pearls. My mistress
bids me wear them, warm them, until evening
when I´ll brush her hair. At six, I place them
round her cool, white throat. All day I think of her,

resting in the Yellow Room, contemplating silk
or taffeta, which gown tonight? She fans herself
whilst I work willingly, my slow heat entering
each pearl. Slack on my neck, her rope.

She´s beautiful. I dream about her
in my attic bed; picture her dancing
with tall men, puzzled by my faint, persistent scent
beneath her French perfume, her milky stones.

I dust her shoulders with a rabbit´s foot,
watch the soft blush seep through her skin
like an indolent sigh. In her looking-glass
my red lips part as though I want to speak.

Full moon. Her carriage brings her home. I see
her every movement in my head.... Undressing,
taking off her jewels, her slim hand reaching
for the case, slipping naked into bed, the way

she always does.... And I lie here awake,
knowing the pearls are cooling even now
in the room where my mistress sleeps. All night
I feel their absence and I burn.

Carol Ann Duffy (b. 1955), from: Selling Manhattan (Anvil Press Poetry 1987)

She was overlooked for poet laureate in the late 90s for the insipid Andrew Motion. Which was a crying shame for the country.

I discovered Mary Oliver when her poems kept being quoted by my buddhist teachers, so I finally started reading her books. Here's one of my favourites:

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

... pat califia.

yeah :)

Definitely my favourite. Even though she's a contemporary poet. She has a new book out called "Pole Dancing to Gospel Hymns"... gotta love that.

She has heaps of videos on youtube, otherwise audio poems on her myspace:

www.myspace.com/andreagibson

______________________________________________

"Strong people don't need strong leaders" - Ella Baker

www.youtube.com/user/katejb2

This is a great article. I'm sad that prospective Poet Laureat (sp?) Carol Ann Duffy wasn't mentioned, but glad other readers have suggested her. Only poem of hers that I can think of off the top of my head is Warming Her Pearls cos I had to study it.

 One thing, the dates for Gertrude Stein are wrong, it should be 1874-1946 not 1925. :)

I know that their poetry was quite flowery and quite typical of the lyrical, over-the-top style popular in the early 19th century, but their poetry was very passionate and beautiful. Not to mention that they were both very fascinating, talented and rather eccentric women!

Hip To The Beat, Mommie-O!

Awesome! Great photos of these ladies too. You already mentioned Edna, but what about H.D. she was not only a brilliant poet in a long term lesbian relationship raising a child, but she also acted and modeled!

for those of you interested in contemporary poetry there are two excellent chap books that take a very cool slant on the feminine ideal. Neither of the poets are lesbians but the books are pretty fantastic:

1. "Figure Studies" by poet laureat of Virginia and 2006 pulitzer prize winner Claudia Emerson

2. "Lizzie Borden In Love" by Julianna Baggott

Enjoy!

"Lift up your lyres! Sing on! But as for me, I seek your sister whither she is gone."

-Edna St. Vincent Millay

Though I know I'm a bit partial since she's a Wellesley alum, I can't believe Katherine Lee Bates was left off the list. She wasn't as prolific a writer as some of these other women, but she did write "America the Beautiful" and wrote a beautiful book of poetry on the death of her partner of 25 years, Katharine Coman (who founded the Economics Department here at Wellesley).

Here's a sample from that book (Yellow Clover: A Book of Remembrance, to Katharine Coman):

My sorry asks no healing; it is love;

Let love then make me brave

To bear the keen hurts of

This careless summertide,

Ay, of our own poor flower,

Changed with our fatal hour,

For all its sunshine vanished when you died.

Only white cover blossoms on your grave.

Another fun fact: Professor Bates (she taught English) is credited with creating the character of Mrs. Claus. Santa was a bachelor before she wrote Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride.

she's one of the few writers I know of who can write a villanelle or sestina so subtly that I don't realize what it is until the fourth stanza! Love her so much.

Also, a new poet: Jennifer Perrine. She's wonderful, fresh, and writes a lot of queer content. All of you reading this post should check her out!

I'm a big fan of Edna St. Vincent Millay, too. My favorite of her poems is "Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies." Not exactly cheery or romantic, but for some reason I've always loved it. I've posted it here.

www.malindalo.com

Love Daphne Gottlieb

Contemporary/queer/refershingly honest.

This poem speeks to me about the perpetual mental/emotional gymnastics of navigating straight society.

the frightening truth about desire

it's on but
i don't know
whether i want
to be
her, f@$k her
or borrow
her clothes.

My language edit!

I've always found it interesting that if you make a list of all the greatest women poets in English without regard to sexual orientation, the great majority of them are lesbians.

well I joined just to reply to this...  .you left out some vital women..

Gloria Azanalduas..."You've shut the door again to escape the darkness

only it's pitch black in that closet.

some buried part of you prevailed,

elected me to pry open a crack,

hear the unvoiced plea see the animal behind the bars of your eyelashes"

And my favorite of all Cherrie Moraga--"loving you has this kind of desperation to it, 

like do or die, I 

having eyed you from the first time you made the decision to move from your stool

and live dangerously. 

Maintaining this wartime morality where being queer

and female is as warrior as we can get. "

I'll definitely be checking out some of these writersl I was stoked to see an article about poetry.

Hands down, Cherríe Moraga is my favorite:

There resides in her, as in me, a woman far greater
than our bodies
can inhabit,
so I stay
and take what I can
in thick drops
like oil that leaks
from the cave of anger
wrestling between her legs.

From "Loving in the War Years"

I also admire the work of the late Gloria Anzaldua. Check out her wonderful book "Borderlands/La Frontera."

Jan Clausen, author of "Apples and Oranges," also has a beautiful poem called "After Touch."

after late evenings filled with women

after talk

or touch

after a song by Janis Joplin

and a woman's body in my arms

quite by accident, swaying

and slowly stepping in a dance

like those dances of high school

back at the dawn of sex

after kissing my friends a safe goodbye at the door

after the long ride underground.....

 and the cab ride.....

five blocks home from the station

after hot showers,

hot chocolate and

books

i lie down in bed

beside the dark shape of a man

 thinking of women

www.myspace.com/lunakiss7

... poets Oh I'm so tired but I must add my two cents. I'm glad some ladies mention great female poets like Sappho, Audre Lorde, Emily Dickinson, A.R., who are some of my favorite.  Let's not forget the ones that are still paving the way  like StacyAnn C. I wish I knew countless other female poets at the top of my head but I don't. 

Nice list. Anybody know any more female LBQ poets that are sttill alive. Personally, I'm working on a book of poems. I include myself, anyhoo, let me know. I  would like to look them up and add them to my collection.

Though I'm a big fan of several poets already mentioned, like  Edna St. Vincent Millay, Audre Lorde, and Emily Dickinson (who is SO gay, as my girlfriend/English student says), I also enjoy reading the works of certain more contemporary LGBTQ writers, like Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga. 

There's a lot of queer female poets breaking ground in spoken word and slam poetry, like Jamaican-born Staceyann Chin (especially "Feminist or Womanist", check it out on YouTube), Alix Olson ("Cute for a Girl"), and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, who wrote Consensual Genocide, a book I checked out from the library and renewed five times. Here's the first and last stanzas of her poem "A love poem for Sakia Gunn":

Sakia           looking at your face on the memorial website
I know I could've fallen in love with you
so easy when I was sixteen

You could've met my eyes just once
wearing rainbow rings that were brave, not cheesy
We could've been taking that late train back to Newark
falling sticky stars all over each other in the vinyl seat 

Sakia
you were just trying to get home
We
are all trying to get there
with you
to that place       where we can suck our breath
all the way down
where they do not end us

As a spoken word poet myself, I know how scary yet empowering it can be to perform poems that are often very personal in front of a roomful of total strangers, and I think the roots of spoken word make it more open to marginalized voices, voices of women, queer folks, people of color, or any combination...Hearing a love poem by a queer poet performing at my college basically made me realize the feelings I had towards a girl were more than platonic, so I credit spoken word in my whole coming-out process!

Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin American Nobel laureate and despite being as famous as Pablo Neruda in her time, is practically unknown here in the US. Which is a shame as her work is well worth checking out.

If you don't read Spanish, there's a translation by Ursula K. Le Guin (yes, that Ursula K. Le Guin):

Selected Poems of Gabrieal Mistral, (2003), University of New Mexico Press

Actually, the collection contains both the original Spanish poems and the English translations. There's some dispute about her sexuality; there's the offical version which has her pining after a long dead male love and goes on at great length about her work as a educator, and the other version which details some of her love affairs with women.

Basically, she was a dynamic woman and an excellent poet. Well worth remembering on lists like these.

I also immediately thought of Carol Ann Duffy. I LOVE this poem:

I love her work, especially her sense of humor. I first heard her years ago at a lesbian event. She still does a performance once in a while in New York City.

www.myspace.com/chocolatewaters

Writer's Block

Today the moon is in Aquarius

It's your sign

It'll help you write

I laughed for spite

For all I know the moon is in Detroit

And it isn't helping me either

I absolutely love Bishop's work. I'm so glad she was apart of the list. 

Lullaby.

Adult and Child 

sink to their rest. 

At sea the big ship sinks and dies,

lead in its breast.

Lullaby.

Let nations rage,

let nations fall.

The shadow of the crib makes an enormous cage

upon the wall 

Lullaby.

Sleep on and on

war's over soon. 

Drop the silly, harmless toy, 

pick up the moon.

Lullaby.

If they should say 

you have no sense,

don't you mind them; it won't make 

much difference

Lullaby.

Adult and Child 

sink to their rest. 

At sea the big ship sinks and dies,

lead in its breast.