I AM I am Lilith the rebellious lilith the demon cast aside by good men who fear to tread where I was forced to flee I am a tall and unbending tree that bows its head to no man s love nor rage I am a single ice-sharp diamond in a crown of softest rose

I AM

I am Lilith the rebellious

lilith the demon

cast aside by good men

who fear to tread

where I was forced to flee

I am a tall and unbending tree

that bows its head

to no man's love nor rage

I am a single

ice-sharp diamond

in a crown of softest rose

I tempt men from the path of light

for he threw me away

I am Lilith

reviled by a man

who cried and whimpered to his god

to send him a woman

more soft and sweet than me

Eve

mother of life

yet lifeless

with no fire in her heart

I am consumed by fire

but nor burnt

I am ignored

but I will not leave

I am Lilith

and I stand strong

for you my daughters

Taken from a collection

of poems by Martha Fromson, a pupil at Henrietta

Barnett School

A HAWK

A hawk I saw, and marvelled how lovely things can be.

Alighted on a branch he lit the tree

with his fierce stripes; tawny and black shivered his shouldering wings - cherubim-like - covered his quick head: sleek, contemptuous of me.

And who to judge him with the eye of man, whose violent and larcenous hand, leaves nothing undisturbed?

And I, for wonder at this bird,

let go of judgment and breathed

cold air until he rose

beyond where thought goes,

my eye like his - undeceived.

Bill Saunders