Refining
The creek braids
its silks with the river’s,
an eros of wind and water,
water and stone. Here,
even the sun has hands,
knows the shoulder’s curve,
the long bones, the flesh
supple with heat.
An otter ribbons upriver,
lithe, sleek; the ouzel flies
into a riffle, emerges singing.
The heart breaks and mends,
breaks and mends; wind and water
grind stone to sand.
Recording of a performance by the University of Minnesota, Morris, Concert Choir of Vicki Graham’s poem “Refining.” Bradley Miller, professor of Music at UMM, commissioned the setting from composer Ralph M. Johnson to be performed in a program focusing on the environment and sustainability. Johnson’s piece, written for flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and choir, premiered at the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota, on November 17, 2017. Music Copyright ©️ 2017 by Ralph M. Johnson. Used by permission.
Reading by the River
Video of Vicki Graham reading poems from The Hummingbird’s Tongue:
“Composed,” “Synthesis,” “Round,” and “No End.”
Video of Vicki Graham reading a section of “Seventy Years After the Clear-cut: The Keystone,” a poem written for the Wild Rivers Land Trust, anthologized in Writing the Land, Currents (2023).