Ifetayo's poems by Annelinde Metzner

  Isn't April Poetry Month? (reposted to my "art blog")

My dear friend, Annelinde Metzner shared her poems from "Feminism and Religion's" blog publication, Ifetayo's poems.

She introduces them thus:

For a number of years, I’ve been staying at the St. Helena’s Island, South Carolina home of Ifetayo White, Reiki Master, teacher of doulas, and healer in many modalities. I am always deeply healed by Ifetayo’s presence, and by the island itself.  This island near Beaufort is the home of the Gullah people, who have kept their land since Reconstruction according to a legal system called “Heir’s Property.”

The spirits are strong here, and I’ve tried to capture some of the essence of the island and of Ifetayo, in these poems.  In the first, I describe Ifetayo’s wonderful healing room.  The second features the Grandmother Tree, one of the live oaks covered with Spanish moss, so prevalent in the Low Country.  The third features the Resurrection Fern, which appears brown and almost dead on the limbs of the oaks, but springs into vivid greenness after a rain.

"The Healer's Home" begins: (see more through the link above)

In the front room, the living room,

of course!  A majestic altar.

Quan Yin, Mother Mary, Yemaya,

animals of the earth and sea,

winged ones, stone people,

arrayed around the biggest rose quartz

you’ve ever seen.

Love radiates throughout the house.

But in the back room, the healing room…

Windows open to live oaks,

“old greybeard” moss swaying in the breeze,

vermillion camellias, pink azaleas…

all this surrounds the souls who come here

to Ifetayo’s table 

to be healed and made whole.

*

Ifetayo White, Reiki Master and healer

The Grandmother tree