The Narcissist’s Confession
It scares me when he sings “deep calls to deep,”
For I would so much rather stay asleep.
Like Merlin ,trapped inside my tree of self,
like shallow trophies left upon the shelf,
I don’t know what to trash and what to keep.
Real prayer is dear but navel gazing’s cheap.
I chew on my forbidden fruit and weep.
Like Merlin trapped inside my tree of self,
It scares me when I hear “deep calls to deep.”
The vine of selfregard begins to creep
and now I crawl where once I used to leap.
These tendrils hide me safe within the self
and bracket me upon my shallow shelf.
I try to sow but find nothing to reap.
The psalmist in me sings “deep calls to deep.”
© Anne Higgins. All rights reserved
Anne Higgins teaches English at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg Maryland. She is a member of the Daughters of Charity. She has had about 100 poems published, in Commonweal, Spirituality and Health, The Melic Review, The Umbrella Journal, The Centrifugal Eye, and a variety of small magazines. Garrison Keillor read her poems “Open-Hearted” and “Cherry Tomatoes” on The Writer’s Almanac on October 8,2001 and August8,2010, respectively. She is the author of five books and two chapbooks of poetry.
