Kenny, Maurice - Maurice Kenny (essay date February 1986)

Maurice Kenny (essay date February 1986)

SOURCE: A prelude to Between Two Rivers: Selected Poems 1956–1984, White Pine Press, 1987, pp. 1-5.

An excerpt from "Yaikini"

A soft breeze brought a bug into her bucket, a lady-bug fell into her fruit.

"Lady-bug, Lady-bug, fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children are alone. Lady-bug. Lady-bug, fly away home. Lady-bug, Lady-bug, your house is on fire, your children alone. Lady, Lady. Lady, Lady-bug …" She couldn't remember the entire rhyme. She chanted over and over, "Lady-bug, Lady-bug," hoping the rest of the words would follow. She worked herself into an anger so vicious she began pounding the air with her fists. Clenched hammers, the rolled hands struck the air, and the vines, the ground, her own chest.

"Ma! Ma, you alright?"

The women picking further away now in the wide meadow looked up from work.

"Ma, answer me. You...

[The entire page is 2654 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass