Death of Pan<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We were only playing in the pasture,
\nwearing a patchwork of sun and sky,
\nragged with the coming autumn.
\nThat is to say we didn\u2019t mean
\nto drown out the sound of his flute\u2014
\nour piper, nor meddle with the conch shell
\nthat caused our fathers to panic.<\/p>\n
And his Arcadia\u2014
\nhow we adored her. We made wreaths
\nof wildflowers, twined tendrils of her hair
\naround our stubby hands as we brought
\nher one more gift: a leaf bloodied with color,
\na spare sapling, an agate choked in quartz.<\/p>\n
Until the river-god,
\nhappy as ever to be plunged in cold,
\ntook him from our arms and flung
\nhis instrument against the rocky shore.
\nThe syrinx shattered into seven reeds or nine,
\nand we, still infatuated with the echoes
\nour voices made in that valley, called out
\nto one another, not so much from loneliness
\nas the excitement of recitation.<\/p>\n
Light breezes <\/p>\n “Death of Pan” previously appeared in The Never <\/em>(Dream Horse Press, 2010)..<\/em><\/p>\n Judith Skillman<\/a>\u00a0is the author of twelve books of poems, including The Never<\/a><\/em> (Dream Horse Press, 2010), and Heat Lightning: New and Selected Poems<\/a> <\/em>(Silverfish Review Press, 2006), and two which were finalists for the Washington State Book Award. Her most recent collection,\u00a0The White Cypress (<\/em>Cerv\u00e9na Barva Press, 2011) was reviewed favorably in The Pedestal Magazine<\/em> <\/a>and The Iowa Review<\/em> <\/a>and has a review forthcoming The Raven Chronicles<\/em>.\u00a0She has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, \u00a0the King County Arts Commission (KCAC) Publication Prize, a KCAC Public Arts grant, and a Washington State Arts Commission Writer\u2019s Fellowship. Her poems and translations have appeared in Poetry, FIELD, The Southern Review, The Iowa Review, Midwest Quarterly Review, Northwest Review, Prairie Schooner, Seneca Review,<\/em> and other journals and anthologies. She\u2019s been writer in residence at the Centrum Foundation<\/a> in Port Townsend, Washington, The Hedgebrook Foundation,<\/a> and the Jack Straw Foundation.<\/a> Skillman resides in Kennydale, Washington, and teaches for The Yellow Wood Academy, Mercer Island, Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Death of Pan We were only playing in the pasture, wearing a patchwork of sun and sky, ragged with the coming autumn. That is to say we didn\u2019t mean to drown out the sound of his flute\u2014 our piper, … Continue reading
\ndog us as we go forward in reconnaissance,
\nteaching one another how to suffer
\nbeing schooled by lechers. Our appetite
\nfor the one called Pitys<\/em>\u2014another nymph
\nloved by him, who turned into a pine tree
\nto escape his overtures,
\nruns nil to none.<\/p>\n