Janet Wong - Eyes-to-Eyes

Eyes-to-Eyes
by
Janet S. Wong

I look in the mirror
and see my grandmother's young face,

the day she hid in the bamboo forest, shivering,
and came eyes-to-eyes with a tiger.

They stared at each other a very long time.
This is why she knows so much.

When rain pours down from a blue sky,
she says: tigers are marrying today.

She has taught me many secrets,
but I have told enough.

©2011 Janet S. Wong. All rights reserved.

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Not only is Janet Wong a remarkable poet, but she's also one of the driving forces (along with Sylvia Vardell) behind a great project - the Poetry Tag Time eBook. You MUST check this out. It's not only 30 poets and 30 poems, which by itself would be worth the 99 cent price, but the poets "tag" each other... handing off the poetry baton, if you will.

So, the poems are linked - sometimes directly, sometimes loosely - which is a lot of fun on it's own. And you also get these great splashes of personality as they tag each other. It's a great idea, and the poetry is truly a blast. (And if you don't have a Kindle, the format the book is in, you can read it on most any device by downloading a Kindle app from Amazon. I read mine on my Mac). I hope you check it out.

Beyond that, I just want to say what a treat it is for me to be able to have Janet Wong here again at 30 Poets/30 Days. (Please also check out her prior contribution, My Green Grandfather.)

Yesterday brought us April is the Coolest Month by Douglas Florian. Tomorrow... A Stick Is an Excellent Thing by Marilyn Singer!  For more information about 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.