The Sunday Poet: Deborah Leipziger

 

Deborah Leipziger

 

Deborah Leipziger is an author, poet, and professor. Her chapbook, Flower Map, was published by Finishing Line Press (2013). In 2014, her poem “Written on Skin” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Born in Brazil, Ms. Leipziger is the author of several books on human rights and sustainability. Her poems have been published in Salamander, Voices Israel, POESY, Wilderness House Review, Ibbetson Street, and the Muddy River Poetry Review. http://flowermap.net/

Written on Skin

In cursive and script your kiss

Is indelibly written on skin.

Even now, the cut from your birth

Echoing the rain is written on skin.

The numbers from a time of horror

Are held written on skin.

Just as the rings record the age of the tree

My ages and years are written on skin.

The wood from the forest for the violin

Its music etched in wood, written on skin.

The umbilical cord coiled around my neck

Is still there, pulsating purple, written on skin.

The parchment of history of storied sacrifice

Is written on hides, written on skin.

In ink and dust, blood and bruise

My history is written on skin.

The newspaper stories of massacre

Collapse and famine are written on skin.

Your touch on my earlobe, fingerprints on my face

Words and deeds unbidden, written on skin.

The phrase “Written on Skin” is the title of an opera by George Benjamin.

Published in Muddy River Poetry Review