Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE HAG by JAMES OPPENHEIM

First Line: THE OLD HAG SAT ON THE PARK BENCH, PICKING HER TEETH
Last Line: AND SEE WHAT ELSE THE WORLD MEANS.
Subject(s): HOMELESS; OLD AGE; WOMEN;

THE old hag sat on the park bench, picking her teeth:
Her hat was askew over her stiffened bangs:
Her skirts were bunched together: her shoes broken.

What did Spring mean to her?
What meaning in the new grass blades and the cloudy blue of the skies?
How did the slow-rising love-hymn of the Earth sound in her ears?
What mate in the world for her?

I passed by, young and in power:
But I wished for a moment I could be inside her head,
And see what else the world means.



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