Mother of Stone, Cybele,
Stone Mother, keep me low,
Resigned, involved, confusable
As to the novice eye the vine
With wild thyme and caper, close
To your chemic soil-
Ash, tuff, and pumice-twined
In on itself to stand
Up under summer wind
And to condense the sure, sheer mist
That plumps until night harvest
Fruit tanged with sulfur, pressed
Then to a salt-tinged must,
Oak barrel ready,
A bit acidic, wit-dry, heady.


About this poem
"Before being assimilated to Greece, Cybele was a mother goddess said to be 'born of stone' partly because her worship originated in the Anatolian mountains. She seemed to be the appropriate deity to invoke during my stay on arid Santorini, a volcanic island known in part for cultivation of the Assyrtiko grape."
-Stephen Yenser

About Stephen Yenser
Stephen Yenser is the author of "Blue Guide" (University of Chicago Press, 2006). He directs the undergraduate creative writing program at the University of California, Los Angeles, and lives in Los Angeles.

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The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


(c) 2014 Stephen Yenser. Originally published by the Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate