Diana Der Hovanessian Prize, selected by Susan Barba
Youth’s path unknown
Watching a careless young bird fly
over the fields, across the sky,
we do not know from that foray
if she’s mountain-bound or seeks a valley.
Watching a humble grass-snake dart
over the stone, our gaze imparts
not one inch of his future route.
So we should not presume to say
of a child observed in infancy
who, at their fullness, they may be.
Just as, soaring from its coign,
the bird leaves afterward no sign
nor, lowly, doth the pouring snake
a child bequeaths no beautiful faict
from early days that can be set
firmly, serving as prophecy.
So in her lifetime yet to come
not one soul knows which way she’ll run!
Witness, and hope. Each soul, alive
may easily falter. Might easily thrive.
—translated and adapted from Gilles Corrozet, Hecatomgraphie 93
Catherine Rockwood’s poems have appeared in Literary Imagination, Psaltery & Lyre, KYSO Flash, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and elsewhere. Her essays and reviews appear in Tin House, Strange Horizons, Rain Taxi, and The Mom Egg Review. She lives in Belmont, MA with her family.