Eleven Inside

Do you remember being eleven? I do, very distinctly. My head buried in a book more often than not. It's the very age I feel inside. This excerpt from Luci Shaw makes me feel eleven all over again and nourished by the gentle reminder of love given.

from "Gifts for my girl"
by Luci Shaw

At eleven, and always,
you will need to be nourished.
For your mind - poems and plays, words
on the pages of a thousand books:
Deuteronomy, Dante and Donne,
Hosea and Hopkins, L’Engle and Lewis.
For your spirit, mysteries and praise,
sureties and prayer. For your teeth
and tongue, real bread the color
of grain at a feast, baked and broken
fresh each day, apricots and raisins,
cheese and olive oil and honey
that live bees have brought
from the orchard. For drink
I’d pour you a wine
that remembers sun and shadow
on the hillside where it grew,
and spring water wet enough
to slake your forever thirst.

Read the full poem here.

I hope you're feeling nourished, but if you need more poetry for the soul, visit Robyn for Poetry Friday Roundup.