(PROSE POETRY)

WISDOM

​LISA BELLAMY

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Wisdom is the little Samaritan girl at the well. (The gospel tale, by the way, ignores her existence, although discerning readers perceive her presence).  A lively, inexhaustible child, she never napped; she scampered to-and-fro through the town. One noonday, as her mother drew water in the hot, silent town square, she watched as the Traveler appeared, out of swirling dust, and asked her mother for refreshment. Wisdom smiled, ran to him, kicked him in the right shin, grabbed the jug—living water—from her mother. As it spilled, Wisdom drank and the Traveler laughed, rubbing his throbbing shin; he’s still laughing, she’s still grabbing, she’s still saying, I want some of that. 
 

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Lisa Bellamy studies poetry with Philip Schultz at The Writers Studio, where she also teaches. She is the author of The Northway, a full-length collection (Terrapin Books: 2018) and Nectar, a chapbook, which won the 2011 Aurorean chapbook prize. She has received a Pushcart Prize, a Puscart Special Mention and a Fugue poetry prize. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and the Adirondacks with her family.