Our first Deep Water poem of 2022, Mark Melnicove’s “Commandments,” relates an ecstatic moment of learning and communion in a Maine river. I love this poem’s rich simplicity and its timeless, joyous conversation between the speaker and the sky.
Melnicove recently retired from teaching English at Falmouth High School. He is co-author with Margy Burns Knight of “Africa is Not a Country,” which received the Africana Book Award, and is author of two collections of ekphrastic poetry: “Sometimes Times” (with artist Terry Winters, 2017) and “Ghosts” (with artist Abby Shahn, 2018).
Commandments
By Mark Melnicove
The clouds sang, Fly with us,
a chorus heard from my perch on earth.
I asked, How?
They answered, Don’t jump, swim.
So I eased my body
into the Kennebec, out to sea.
I shouted, I see
but cannot touch you.
The clouds counseled, Emote,
enjoining me to weep
happiness, happiness
raining from my brain.
Megan Grumbling is a poet and writer who lives in Portland. Deep Water: Maine Poems is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. “Commandments,” copyright © 2022 by Mark Melnicove, appears by permission of the author.
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