Poem: My Daughter's Knight
Books & Poetry
Today’s Poet’s Corner features two poems from Marina Sanchez’s new award-winning chapbook Dragon Child, about raising a daughter with CHARGE syndrome.
My Daughter’s Knight
One winter’s night I found myself sitting
under the great ancestral tree. Old framed photos
of grandparents, aunts and uncles were tied
to the branches with brightly-coloured ribbons.
Others were too distant to recognise.
All their faces glinted from a light source unseen.
Familiar motifs were hanging within reach;
a Mexican Revolution medal, hand-made lace, a shell,
a miniature replica of my mother’s baby grand,
another of my father’s tank from the Spanish Civil War.
Among the orchids, I picked up a knight’s helmet,
tried it on. Though heavy, it fitted.
I polished it and oiled the visor’s hinges.
Nearby, unsheathed from its scabbard,
a sword gleamed, finest Toledo steel,
light and good for my height. I followed
its movements in a sparring dance
against an invisible foe.
Then, I approached the horse that neighed and stomped
when he saw me. After a few attempts,
fastened by the help of family
and the instruction of the newly-minted acronym
of her syndrome, I mounted, took the reins,
ready, her name blazing in my banner.
Change
is like that day that defied forecasters,
our shoes sinking in the low-tide sand,
on the shore of an unknown sea.
“Let’s paddle”, I said.
At first you refused, and as always
I coaxed you, cautious daughter.
We left our belongings back where it was dry,
you rolled your trousers
up to your thighs, smiling,
as always, when you decide
you go all the way,
I’m the one left behind.
We made the journey across that wide stretch of beach,
just the two of us, the sand softer,
our feet wet, the April sea lapping cold.
Like when we stood with arms outstretched
facing the horizon,
the spring sun finding us unawares.
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Marina Sanchez is of Spanish and Native American heritage and received her education in Mexico and Europe. She lives in London where she has worked at a secondary school in special needs teaching, and as a freelance translator. Her poems, and translations, including the classic One Hundred Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda, have appeared internationally in journals and anthologies. Marina’s poems today are from her new award-winning chapbook Dragon Child (Acumen Press and the Poetry Kit) about raising a daughter with CHARGE syndrome.
Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to poetscorner@solsticemedia.com.au. A poetry book will be awarded to each contributor.
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