Mythology
In those days, the wooden drawers of card catalogs
still led us to the books we thought we needed,
and if we were lucky, to the miracle of cross-references.
The rumor was that deep in the Widener Library stacks,
in Scandinavian Literature, a blanket
more epic than Freyr’s magic Skíðblaðnir
guaranteed lovers who tussled under its fibers
the most unspeakable ecstasies of their lives.
The folks at the Bodleian had nothing on us.
Imagine: backs arched under the Gísla saga Súrssonar,
tale of an outlaw poet, or the mutual intelligibility
of Old Norse and Old English speakers in the Egils saga,
reaching across oceans, case endings, noun genders,
and differing rules toward comprehension, perhaps even
understanding. That, we certainly did not have.
We had only our desperate grasping
toward each other, the desire, the desire
to figure something out. So many false syllogisms
born under dirty threads. Women’s bodies are beautiful.
You are a woman. Thus your body is beautiful. Beauty gives worth.
But you yourself are not beautiful. So you have no worth.
It was enough to drive us mad beneath those sheets
searching for lost lands under pages stained with battle-sweat,
and us never catching sight of our shore.
The Prompt (from a current online workshop taught by Caroline Goodwin): Read “The Limits of Knowledge, Tilton School, New Hampshire” by Roo Borson and choose a moment or a line to respond to with your own poem.
What Inspires You
I’m inspired by the women in my recurring online poetry workshop led by poet and phenomenal teacher Caroline Goodwin. I carry a copy of The Habit of Being in my phone because Flannery O’Connor’s essays about writing and short stories have inspired me since high school, and re-reading her letters makes me feel as if she’s right next to me. I collect vintage (mostly 1980s) children’s books because I read them at a life-changing junction in my life, and their presence now lifts my spirit.
Bio
Isabel Cristina Legarda was born in the Philippines and spent her early childhood there. She is currently a practicing physician in Boston. Her poetry has appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, The Lowestoft Chronicle, and many other journals. Her chapbook Beyond the Galleons was published in April 2024, and her chapbooks The Pillar Dweller’s Handbook, and Further Authentic Stories of Half Ladies are forthcoming. Her fiction has appeared in Last Syllable, Cleaver, Ruminate, and others. She can be found online on Instagram (@poetintheOR) and at http://www.ilegarda.com
Find the Spring 2026 Issue HERE
Previous NPM 2026 poets
| April 1 | Amy Forstadt |
| April 2 | Annette Sisson |
| April 3 | Beth Kanell |
| April 4 | Bonnie Proudfoot |
| April 5 | Charles Stringer |
| April 6 | D. Dina Friedman |
| April 7 | David Colodney |
| April 8 | Deanna Ludwin |
| April 9 | Eileen Pettycrew |
| April 10 | Felice Alexandra |
| April 11 | Grace Massey |
| April 12 | Hallie Fogarty |
| April 13 | Isabel Cristina Legarda |