Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ONE FLESH, by JAMES OPPENHEIM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ONE FLESH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If marriage is to be one flesh, this twain made one
Last Line: I am only loving myself.
Subject(s): Brotherhood


IF MARRIAGE is to be one flesh, this twain made one,
Then I am married to the multitudinous world:
I have passed through the hills and the sea, and they through me:
Star-light and sun-light have drenched me, nestling under my skin:
Yea, I have eaten of the sun when I have eaten of the fruits of the field:
And I have drunk deep of the ocean...

All parts of my body have been elsewhere:
In other people: or in the grasses: or in the cow and tiger:
Continually the stars rain their rays into the meadows whereof I taste:
I am a meeting place for the tides of the waters of the world...

No wonder then I feel so at home:
That love goes from me to all creation:
I am only loving myself.





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