Fermata

by Rebecca Clifford

I have the patience of a saint, a waddle of nuns,
and three tenured librarians from Trinity College Dublin.

I can outlast the pyramids of Giza,
the grit of an hourglass,
or the queue at the DMV.
I’ll endure an eternity,

suffer any number of syncopated atrocities,
until you decide that you are through with me.

hold me
.

Rebecca Clifford grew up surrounded by music and sang semi-professionally in choral ensembles for many years. Her poetry and prose appear in national and international anthologies and e-zines. Six of her poems have been set to music by Canadian composers.  Rebecca lives in rural Ontario, gardens with intention and a backhoe, planting as many sunflowers as the ground will hold.  She is supported in her endeavours by her long-suffering husband and a disdainful cat of questionable parentage.

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