Composition: Fringe Lichen: Tilde & Mãe

Brenda Hillman

As i have since i was a child in summer, found a rock with a fine example 

of life; 

this time Flavopuntilia soredica, fringe lichen, with tilde-like edges; 

to extend a sound where other life could hear, 

in hopes of accomplishing nothing,  offered punctuation to the lichen, to 

my mother who was very quiet at the time

so it would be heard & not heard in the heavenly sphere, at least, as the 

brain imagined it there, making absolute motion, in a harmless frame, as 

the granite has spoken since i was a child,  in other words, 

i said mãe

with 10 rows of 12 tildes & 2 rows of mãe,  in Portuguese, 

i recited the tildes by lifting a finger, recited the “mãe” lines,  

tapping toward where she lives very quietly in days she creates…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
mãe mãe mãe mãe mãe mãe
mãe mãe mãe mãe mãe mãe

BRENDA HILLMAN is the author of ten collections of poetry, from Wesleyan University Press, most recently Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire (2013), which received the Griffin International Prize for Poetry, and Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days (2018). Read More

---

Brenda Hillman’s poem “Composition: Fringe Lichen: Tilde & Mãe” previously appeared in Extra Hidden Life, among the Days (Wesleyan University Press, 2018) and is reprinted here by permission of Wesleyan University Press.