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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: DOVE, RITA Matches Found: 377 Dove, Rita Poet's Biography 377 poems available by this author 2E2. TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING. THIRD DAY. First Line: Panel of gray silk. Liquefied ashes. Dingy percale tugged over Last Line: Well. I'd go home if I knew where to get off Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Sea; Travel A HILL OF BEANS Poem Text First Line: One spring the circus gave Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life ABDUCTION First Line: The bells, the cannons, the house black with crepe Last Line: I woke and oufnd myself alone, in darkness and in chains ADOLESCENCE: 1 Poem Text First Line: In water-heavy nights behind grandmother's porch Subject(s): Baby Boom Generation; Women ADOLESCENCE: 1 First Line: In water-heavy nights behind grandmother's porch Last Line: Against a feathery sky Subject(s): Baby Boom Generation; Women ADOLESCENCE: 2 Poem Text First Line: Although it is night, I sit in the bathroom, waiting Subject(s): Baby Boom Generation; Women ADOLESCENCE: 2 First Line: Although it is night, I sit in the bathroom, waiting Last Line: Night rests like a ball of fur on my tongue Subject(s): Baby Boom Generation; Women ADOLESCENCE: 3 Poem Text First Line: With dad gone, mom and I worked Subject(s): Adolescence; Baby Boom Generation; Women; Teen Agers AFGHANI NOMAD COAT (PART V) First Line: The lawn is set for vacation Subject(s): Nuclear War AFIELD Poem Text First Line: Out where crows dip to their kill AFIELD First Line: Out where crows dip to their kill Last Line: Then it's itch, scratch, putrescence AFTER READING MICKEY IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN FOR THE THIRD TIME Poem Text First Line: My daughter spreads her legs Last Line: And the pink's in us Subject(s): Daughters; Popular Culture - United States AFTER READING MICKEY IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN FOR THE THIRD TIME First Line: My daughter spreads her legs Last Line: That we're in the pink %and the pink's in us Subject(s): Daughters; Popular Culture - United States AFTER STORM First Line: Already the desert sky had packed AGAINS REPOSE First Line: Nothing comes to mine Last Line: In an inchful of hell AGAINST FLIGHT First Line: Everyone wants to go up - but who can imagine Last Line: Perdition or pity - bare to the stars, buoyant %in the sweet sink of earth AGOSTA THE WINGED MAN AND RASHA THE BLACK DOVE First Line: Schad paced the length of his studio Last Line: But their gaze %so calm %was merciless AIRCRAFT First Line: Too frail for combat, he stands Last Line: After lunch, they would bathe in fire ALL SOULS First Line: Starting up behind them Last Line: Played long ago, in a foreign land AMERICAN SMOOTH Poem Text Recitation by Author Subject(s): Dancing & Dancers AMERICAN SMOOTH First Line: We were dancing-it must have Last Line: Remembered who we were %and brought us down AND COUNTING First Line: Well of course I'm not worth it but neither is ANNIVERSARY First Line: Twelve years to the day Last Line: And a wink to remember him by ANTI-FATHER Poem Text First Line: Contrary to / tales you told us Last Line: Inconceivably intimate Subject(s): Healing; Cures ANTI-FATHER First Line: Contrary to %tales you told us Last Line: Me and you, %woman to man, %outer space is %inconceivably %intimate Subject(s): Healing ANTS OF ARGOS First Line: There stood the citadel -- nothing left Last Line: Marching skyward, had been in corinth ARROW First Line: The eminent scholar 'took the bull by the horns,' Last Line: Yellow brighter %than her hair so she can't be %seen at all ARS POETICA Poem Text First Line: Thirty miles to the only decent restaurant Subject(s): Poetry & Poets ARS POETICA First Line: Thirty miles to the only decent restaurant AT THE GERMAN WRITERS CONFERENCE IN MUNICH First Line: In the large hall of the hofbrauhaus Last Line: Of the horse. And both %are in flowers AURORA BOREALIS First Line: This far south such crippling Last Line: For despair. %thomas, go home BACKYARD, 6 A.M. First Line: Nudged by bees, morning brightens to detail BANNEKER Poem Text First Line: What did he do except lie / under a pear tree Subject(s): Astronomy & Astronomers; Banneker, Benjamin (1731-1806); Mathematics; Racial Equality BEAUTY AND THE BEAST First Line: Darling, the plates habe been cleared away Last Line: The expected, the handsome, the one who needs us? BELINDA'S PETITION First Line: To the honorable senate and house Last Line: Who would ride toward me steadily for twelve years BIRD FRAU First Line: When the boys came home, everything stopped Last Line: For rudi, come home on crutches, %the thin legs balancing his atom of life BISTRO STYX First Line: She was thinner, with a mannered gauntness Last Line: One really should try the fruit here.' %I've lost her, I thought, and called for the bill Subject(s): Paris, France; Persephone BLOWN APART Poem Text First Line: Blown apart by loss, she let herself go Last Line: Serves her right, the old mare Subject(s): Literary Form; Grief BLOWN APART First Line: Blown apart by loss, she let herself go Last Line: Serves her right, the old mare Subject(s): Literary Form BOAST First Line: At the dinner table, before the baked eggplant Last Line: With lies, with lies BOCCACCIO: THE PLAGUE YEARS First Line: Even at night the aair rang and rang Last Line: Falling in love again BOLERO First Line: Not the ratcheting crescendo of ravel's bright winds Last Line: Spot lit across %the hardwood floor BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS First Line: Finally, overcast skies. I've crossed a hemisphere Last Line: Though I pour myself the recommended bowlful, %stones are what I sprinkle among the chaff BREATHING, THE ENDLESS NEWS First Line: Every god is lonely, an exile BROWN First Line: Why you look good in every color! Last Line: The dress in question was red BUCKEYE First Line: We learned about the state tree CAMEL COMES TO US FROM THE BARBARIANS First Line: This one is enormous: rough-cut Last Line: What beauty wreaks, what mountains %pity moves Subject(s): Camels CAMEOS First Line: Lucille among the flamingos Last Line: Of canebreak and blossoming flame CANARY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Billie holiday's burned voice Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Drugs & Drug Abuse; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Narcotics; Opium; Cocaine; Crack; Heroin; Songs CANARY First Line: Billie holiday's burned voice Last Line: If you can't be free, be a mystery Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Drugs And Drug Abuse; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA First Line: Deprived of learning and Last Line: A ring of milk CATHERINE OF SIENA First Line: You walked the length of italy Last Line: No one unpried your fists as you slept CENTIPEDE First Line: With the storm moved on the next town Last Line: I scream and let go of his hairy arm CHAMPAGNE First Line: The natives here have given up their backyards Last Line: All for ourselves and all for nothing CHARM First Line: They called us %the tater bug twins Last Line: I just gave you life CHOLERA First Line: At the outset, hysteria Last Line: It was a dance of unusual ferocity CLAUDETTE COLVIN GOES TO WORK Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Menial twilight sweeps the storefronts along lexington Last Line: Whenever sleep comes down on me Subject(s): Bus Terminals; Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry CLAUDETTE COLVIN GOES TO WORK First Line: Menial twilight sweeps the storefronts along lexington Last Line: Whenever sleep comes down on me Subject(s): Bus Terminals; Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Racism CLIMBIN IN First Line: Teeth Last Line: Head over tail %down the clinking gullet Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Survival COMPANY First Line: No one can help him anymore Last Line: And now he can't even touch her feet COMPENDIUM First Line: He gave up fine cordials and Last Line: The canary courting its effigy. %the girls fragrant in their beds COPPER BEECH First Line: Aristocrat among patriarchs, Last Line: The trunk: %living architecture CORDUROY ROAD First Line: We strike camp on that portion of road completed Last Line: Blazing from outstretched palms, a skunk bagged and eaten in tears COURTSHIP First Line: Fine evening may I have %the pleasure Last Line: His heart fluttering shut %then slowly opening COURTSHIP, DILIGENCE First Line: A yellow scarf runs through his fingers Last Line: Not that scarf, bright as butter. %not his hands, cool as dimes COZY APOLOGIA; FOR FRED Poem Text First Line: I could pick anything and think of you- Last Line: I fill this stolen time with you Subject(s): Boys; Hearts; Love - Beginnings; Youth CRAB-BOIL Poem Text First Line: Why do I remember the sky Last Line: We're kicked out now. I'm ready (emphasis mine) Subject(s): Racism; Civil Rights Movement CRAB-BOIL First Line: Why do I remember the sky Last Line: We're kicked out now, I'm ready Subject(s): Americans; United States DAVID WALKER (1785-1830) First Line: Free to travel, he still couldn't be shown how lucky Last Line: In the doorway at brattle street, %his frame slighter than friends remembered DAWN REVISITED Poem Text First Line: Imagine you wake up Last Line: If you don't get up and see Subject(s): Dawn; Sunrise DAWN REVISITED First Line: Imagine you wake up Last Line: Who's down there, frying those eggs, %if you don't get up and see Subject(s): Dawn DAYSTAR Poem Text First Line: She wanted a little room for thinking Subject(s): Mothers DAYSTAR First Line: She wanted a little room for thinking Last Line: She was nothing %pure nothing, in the middle of the day Subject(s): Mothers DEDICATION First Line: Ignore me. This request is knotted DEFINITION IN THE FACE OF UNNAMED FURY First Line: That dragonfly, bloated, pinned Last Line: He threatens, 'I'll just %let go' DELFT First Line: Flat, with variations. Not Last Line: But the house behind us %is sinking DEMETER'S PRAYER TO HADES Poem Text First Line: This alone is what I wish for you: knowledge Subject(s): Knowledge DEMETER'S PRAYER TO HADES First Line: This alone is what I wish for you: knowledge Last Line: Believe in yourself, %go ahead - see where it gets you DEMETER, WAITING First Line: No. Who can bear it. Only someone Last Line: Over. Then I will sit down to wait for her. Yes DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS OR LESS Poem Text First Line: I'm not the kind of person who praises Subject(s): Self DESK DREAMS First Line: Tempe, arizona %honeyed wood with one eye widening the grain Last Line: As this one, the heavens scrubbed %and shining DIALECTICAL ROMANCE First Line: He asked if she believed in god DISSOLVE First Line: Durer rides into the mountains Last Line: He will have figs and dancing lessons-- %and promise the mornings to watercolor Subject(s): Nature DOG DAYS, JERUSALEM First Line: Exactly at six every evening I go DUSTING Poem Text First Line: Every day a wilderness Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks DUSTING First Line: Every day a wilderness Last Line: Long before the shadow and sun's accomplice, the tree %maur ice Subject(s): African Americans EARLY MORNING ON THE TEL AVIV-HAIFA FREEWAY First Line: The shore is cabbage green and reeks Last Line: Gleams as it turns. We should stop %but drive on EASTERN EUROPEAN ECLOGUES First Line: This melodious Last Line: Is lovely %this time of year ELEVATOR MAN, 1949 First Line: Not a cage but an organ Last Line: The slender breath of the piper ENACTMENT First Line: Can't use no teenager, especially Last Line: And sit down in the seat %we have prepared for her Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Racism EVENING PRIMROSE First Line: Neither rosy nor prim Last Line: All night long %for no one EVENT First Line: Ever since they'd left the tennessee ridge Last Line: A stinking circle of rags, %the half-shell mandolin. %where the wheel turned the water %gently shirr Subject(s): African Americans EXEUNT THE VIOLS First Line: With their throb and yearn, their sad Last Line: Smiling under the stars EXIT First Line: Just when hope withers, the visa is granted Last Line: What it took to be a woman in this life FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION First Line: On my knees in the dark I looked out FATHER OUT WALKING ON THE LAWN First Line: Five rings light your approach across Last Line: If only you were bright enough to touch FIAMMETTA BREAKS HER PEACE First Line: I've watched them, mother, and I know Last Line: And I think we'll be spared FIFTH GRADE AUTOBIOGRAPHY Poem Text First Line: I was four in this photograph fishing Last Line: But I remember his hands Subject(s): Family Life; Grandparents; Hands; Relatives; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers FIFTH GRADE AUTOBIOGRAPHY First Line: I was four in this photograph fishing Last Line: But I remember his hands Subject(s): Family Life; Grandparents; Hands FIRST KISS First Line: And it was almost a boy who undid Last Line: In me, almost a boy FISH IN THE STONE Last Line: Strokes the fern's %voluptuous braille Variant Title(s): The Fish In The Ston Subject(s): Fossils FIVE ELEPHANTS First Line: Are walking towards me Last Line: And for hours we meet no one else FLASH CARDS Poem Text First Line: In math I was the whiz kid, keeper Subject(s): Education; Schools; Teaching & Teachers; Students; Educators; Professors FLASH CARDS First Line: In math I was the whiz kid, keeper Last Line: Ten, I kept saying, I'm only ten Subject(s): Education; Schools; Teaching And Teachers FLIRTATION Poem Text First Line: After all, there's no need Last Line: Walking through Subject(s): Flirtation FLIRTATION First Line: After all, there's no need Last Line: So the pleasure's in %walking through Subject(s): Flirtation FOR KAZUKO First Line: The bolero, silk-tassled, the fuchsia Last Line: If fucking were graceful, desire an alibi FOR SOPHIE WHO'LL BE IN FIRST GRADE IN THE YEAR 2000 First Line: No bright toy %this world we've left you Last Line: Dear sophie, %littlest phoenix FOX First Line: She knew what %she was, and so Last Line: Than any man %could handle FOX TROT FRIDAYS First Line: Thank the stars there's a day %each week to tuck in Last Line: To count all the wonders in it FREEDOM RIDE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: As if, after high street Last Line: Or a mosque adrift on a milk-fed pond Subject(s): Buses; Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Civil Rights Movement FREEDOM RIDE First Line: As if, after high street Last Line: But where you sit is where you'll be %when the fire hits Subject(s): Bus Terminals; Parks, Rosa (b. 1913) GENETIC EXPEDITION First Line: Each evening I see my breasts GENIE'S PRAYER UNDER THE KITCHEN SINK First Line: Hair and bacon grease, pearl button GEOMETRY Poem Text First Line: I prove a theorem and the house expands Subject(s): Geometry GEOMETRY First Line: I prove a theorem and the house expands Last Line: They are going to some point true and unproven Subject(s): Geometry GHOST WALK Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The neighbors who never Last Line: And a last glass of wine Subject(s): Ghosts; Supernatural; Rosa Parkes (1913-2005); Civil Rights Movement GHOST WALK First Line: The neighbors who never Last Line: For his laughter %and a last glass of wine Subject(s): Ghosts; Supernatural GOLDEN OLDIE First Line: I made it home early, only to get Last Line: Might be, or where to start looking GOOSE First Line: Little cuyahoga's done up left town Last Line: The poor man's history Variant Title(s): The Gorg GOSPEL Poem Text First Line: Swing low so I / can step inside Last Line: Heavenward, warbling Subject(s): Spiritual Life; Women & Religion GOSPEL First Line: Swing low so I %can step inside Last Line: Through god's net and swims %heavenward, warbling Subject(s): Spiritual Life; Women And Religion GOTTERDAMMERUNG First Line: A straw reed climbs the car antenna Last Line: I'll never be through with my life GRAPE SHERBERT Poem Text Recitation First Line: The day? Memorial. / after the grill Last Line: You bothered, / father Subject(s): Healing; Cures GRAPE SHERBERT First Line: The day? Memorial. %after the grill Last Line: Now I see why %you bothered %father Subject(s): Healing GREAT PALACES OF VERSAILLES First Line: Nothing nastier than a white person! Last Line: I need a man who'll protect me %while smoking her cigarette down to the very end Subject(s): Versailles, Frances; Violence; Women GREAT PIECE OF TURF First Line: Dug out just before sunrise Last Line: Magnificent edifice %dying before the very eye Subject(s): Nature GREAT UNCLE BEEFHEART First Line: It was not as if he didn't try Last Line: There, I ain't wearing no clothes GRIEF: THE COUNCIL First Line: I told her: enough is enough Last Line: At last the earth cleared to the sea %at last composure GROUND WE WALK ON First Line: Have you heard about bats storing themselves HADES' PITCH Poem Text First Line: If I could just touch your ankle, he whispers, there Subject(s): Hell HAPPENSTANCE First Line: When you appeared it was as if Last Line: You turned in the light, your eyes %seeking your name HATTIE MCDANIEL ARRIVES AT THE COCONUT GROVE First Line: Late, in aqua and ermine, gardenias Last Line: So go on %and make them wait HEADDRESS First Line: The hat on the table Last Line: With grace along beauty's seam HEART TO HEART Poem Text First Line: It's neither red / nor sweet Last Line: To take me, , too Subject(s): Desire; Emotions; Hearts HEART TO HEART First Line: It's neither red %nor sweet Last Line: To take me, %too Subject(s): Desire; Emotions; Hearts HER ISLAND Poem Text First Line: Around us, blazed stones, closed ground HER ISLAND First Line: Around us blazed stones, closed ground Last Line: Around us: blazed stones, the ground closed HEROES Poem Text First Line: A flower in a weedy field Subject(s): Poppies HEROES First Line: A flower in a weedy field Last Line: It was going to die HILL HAS SOMETHING TO SAY First Line: But isn't talking Last Line: Who lives there still HILL OF BEANS First Line: One spring the circus gave Last Line: Beyond the tracks, the city blazed %as if looks were everything Subject(s): Cities HIS SHIRT Poem Text First Line: Does not show his Last Line: Fragile and / ordinary Subject(s): Love HIS SHIRT First Line: Does not show his Last Line: Fragile and %ordinary Subject(s): Love HISTORY Poem Text First Line: Everything's a metaphor, some wise Last Line: Will find its symbol , the woman thinks Subject(s): Literary Form HISTORY First Line: Everything's a metaphor, some wise Last Line: Will find its symbol, the woman thinks Subject(s): Literary Form HORSE AND TREE First Line: Everybody who's anybody longs to be a tree HOUSE ON BISHOP STREET First Line: No front yard to speak of Last Line: Growing just behind the last houses HOUSE SLAVE First Line: The first horn lifts its arm over the dew-lit grass Last Line: I weep. It is not yet daylight Subject(s): Slavery HULLY GULLY First Line: Locked in bathrooms for hours Last Line: Above the exhausted chenille %in bedrooms upstairs everywhere Subject(s): Music, Rock I HAVE BEEN A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND' Poem Text First Line: It wasn't bliss. What was bliss Last Line: Warming her outstretched palm Subject(s): Adam & Eve; Bible; Desire; Eden; Life; Temptation; Eve IKE First Line: Grew hair for fun Last Line: The whole night long IN A NEUTRAL CITY First Line: Someday we'll talk about the day lily IN THE BULRUSH First Line: Cut a cane that once Last Line: To see if it's thinking %of water IN THE LOBBY OF THE WARNER THEATRE, WASHINGTON, DC Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: They'd positioned her - two attendants flanking the wheelchair Last Line: Waiting for the moment to take her Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Washington, D.c. IN THE LOBBY OF THE WARNER THEATRE, WASHINGTON, DC First Line: They'd positioned her - two attendants flanking the wheelchair Last Line: Like the history she made for us sitting there, %waiting for the moment to take her Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Washington, D.c. IN THE MUSEUM First Line: A boy, at most IN THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD First Line: Raccoons have invaded the crawl space Last Line: As I had been taught to do ISLAND WOMEN OF PARIS ISLAND WOMEN OF PARIS First Line: Skim from curb like regatta JIVING First Line: Heading north, straw hat Last Line: Sighing their sighs %and dimpling KADAVA KUMBIS DEVISE A WAY TO MARRY FOR LOVE First Line: I will marry this clump of flowers Last Line: Watching from a respectful distance KENTUCKY, 1833 Poem Text First Line: It is sunday, day of roughhousing. We are let out in the woods Last Line: If we could read, would change our lives Subject(s): Slavery; Books & Reading KENTUCKY, 1833 First Line: It is sunday, day of roughhousing. We are let out in the woods Last Line: Night; as if the sky were an omen we could not understand, the book that, if we could %read, would c Subject(s): Healing L'OPERA First Line: A friend, blonde pigtail flung over an ear LADY FREEDOM AMONG US First Line: Don't lower your eyes Last Line: And she is each of us LAMENTATIONS First Line: Throw open the shutters Last Line: You'd do well to stop crying %and suck the good milk in LATE NOTEBOOKS OF ALBRECHT DURER First Line: Every face in nurnberg is beautiful Last Line: & therefore no right to claim LEFT-HANDED CELLIST First Line: You came with a cello in one hand Last Line: You with the pewter hands LIGHTIN' BLUES First Line: On the radio a canary bewailed her luck Last Line: Kingfish addressing the mystic knights of the sea LINES COMPOSED ON THE BODY POLITIC: AN ACCOUNTING Poem Text Subject(s): Elizabeth I, Queen Of England (1533-1603 LINES MUTTERED IN SLEEP First Line: Black chest hairs, soft sudden mass Last Line: Pine scent, lake scent, gorse scent, bark LINT First Line: Beneath [or, under] the brushed wing of the mallard LOST BRILLIANCE Poem Text First Line: I miss that corridor drenched in shadow, LOST BRILLIANCE First Line: I miss that corridor drenched in shadow Last Line: One who wounded, %and one who served LUCILLE, POST-OPERATIVE YEARS First Line: Most often she couldn't LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN'S RETURN TO VIENNA Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Three miles from my adopted city Subject(s): Beethoven, Ludwig Van (1770-1827) MAGIC Poem Text First Line: Practice makes perfect, the old folks said Last Line: She would make it to paris one day Subject(s): African Americans - Women MAGIC First Line: Practice makes perfect, the old folks said Last Line: She would make it to paris one day Subject(s): African Americans - Women MEDITATION AT FIFTY YARDS, MOVING TARGET Poem Text First Line: Never point your weapon, keep your finger Last Line: Sleeping in the next room, all with one shot Subject(s): Bullets; Guns; Meditation MEDITATION AT FIFTY YARDS, MOVING TARGET First Line: Never point your weapon, keep your finger Last Line: Before you know it %I am home Subject(s): Bullets; Guns; Meditation MEDUSA First Line: I've got to go MELENCOLIA I First Line: Dazzled by the mere contemplation MERCY First Line: An absolute sound, %this soughing above Last Line: And terrifying, just where %it was supposed to be MISSISSIPPI First Line: In the beginning was the dark MOTHER LOVE Poem Text First Line: Who can forget the attitude of mothering? Last Line: To scream like that, to make me remember Subject(s): Mothers MOTHER LOVE First Line: Who can forget the attitude of mothering? Last Line: To scream like that to make me remember Subject(s): Mothers MOTHER LOVE: STATISTIC - THE WITNESS First Line: No matter where I turn she is there Last Line: I will lie down in its kindness, %in the bottomless lull of her arms MOTHERHOOD First Line: She dreams the baby's so small she keeps Last Line: Go opaque with confusion and shame, like a child's MUSICIAN TALKS ABOUT 'PROCESS' First Line: I learned the spoons from Last Line: That's when I left the south MY FATHER'S TELESCOPE Poem Text First Line: The oldest joke Last Line: In oak Subject(s): Telescopes & Binoculars; Opera Glasses MY FATHER'S TELESCOPE First Line: The oldest joke Last Line: And his son %a telescope Subject(s): Telescopes And Binoculars MY MOTHER ENTERS THE WORK FORCE Poem Text First Line: The path to abc business school Subject(s): Mothers NARCISSUS FLOWER First Line: I remember my foot in its frivolous slipper Last Line: And become a queen %whom nothing surprises NATURE'S ITINERARY First Line: Irene says it's the altitude Last Line: A man's invention to numb us so we %can't tell which way the next wind's blowing NESTOR'S BATHTUB First Line: As usual, legend got it all Last Line: And the olive trees grew into the hill NEXUS First Line: I wrote stubbornly into the evening Last Line: A brontosaurus, a poet NIGGER SONG: AN ODYSSEY First Line: We six pile in, the engine churning ink Last Line: We croon, yeah NIGHT WATCH First Line: In this stucco house there is nothing but air Last Line: To the shanties in the mountains NIGHTMARE First Line: She's dreaming %of salt again Last Line: She wakes up NOTES FROM A TUNISIAN JOURNAL First Line: This nutmeg stick of a boy in loose trousers Last Line: The stars crumble, salt above eucalyptus fields NOTHING DOWN First Line: He lets her pick the color Last Line: That is why the petals had grown %so final NOVEMBER FOR BEGINNERS Poem Text First Line: Snow would be the easy NOVEMBER FOR BEGINNERS First Line: Snow would be the easy Last Line: With your cargo of zithers NOW First Line: The glass shone cold %with water fresh Last Line: To reach for the glass and %drink it all O First Line: Shape the lips to say an o, say a Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary O First Line: Shape the lips to say an o, say a Last Line: Like it used to be, not even the future Subject(s): Language OBBLIGATO First Line: Patrons talk and talk and nothing OBEDIENCE First Line: That smokestack, for instance Last Line: She could never invent them OLD FOLK'S HOME, JERASALEM First Line: Evening, the bees fled, the honeysuckle OLD FOLK'S HOME, JERUSALEM Poem Text First Line: Evening, the bees fled, the honeysuckle Subject(s): Nursing Homes; Old Age; Old Age Homes; Assisted Living ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS First Line: They say I was struck down by the voice of an angel ON VERONICA First Line: Exposed to light, %the shroud lifts Last Line: Onto the glistening plate - %white room, white sky ONE VOLUME MISSING Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Green sludge of a riverbank Last Line: No zebras, no virginia, / no wars Subject(s): Encyclopedia; Healing; Cures ONE VOLUME MISSING First Line: Green sludge of a riverbank Last Line: No zebras, no virginia, %no wars Subject(s): Healing ORIENTAL BALLERINA First Line: Twirls on the tips of a carnation Last Line: The walls exploding with shabby tutus OTHER SIDE OF THE HOUSE First Line: I walk out the kitchen door OZONE First Line: Everything civilized will whistle before PAMELA First Line: At two, the barnyard settled Last Line: Smiling, rifles crossed on their chests PARSLEY Poem Text First Line: There is a parrot imitating spring Subject(s): Dominican Republic; Language; Parsley; Racism; Trujillo, Rafael (1891-1961); Words; Vocabulary; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry PARSLEY: 2. THE PALACE First Line: The word the general's chosen is parsley Last Line: For a single, beautiful word PARTICULARS First Line: She discovered she felt better PARTY DRESS FOR A FIRST BORN First Line: Headless girl so ill-at-ease on the bed Last Line: A look, and I will smile, and wish them dead. %mother's calling. Stand up: it will be our secret PASSAGE First Line: Got up %this morning at 2:45, breakfast at 3:30 Last Line: It must have been a whale! Subject(s): African Americans - Military PASTORAL First Line: Like an otter, but warm Last Line: Desire, and the freedom to imagine it PEARLS First Line: You have broken the path of the dragonfly Last Line: A noose of guileless tears PERSEPHONE IN HELL First Line: I was not quite twenty when I first went down Last Line: And light will enter %you are on your way PERSEPHONE UNDERGROUND First Line: If I could touch your ankle, he whispers, there Variant Title(s): Hades' Pitch Subject(s): Literary Form; Persephone; Proserpine; Proserpina PERSEPHONE UNDERGROUND First Line: If I could touch your ankle, he whispers, there Last Line: While the great man drives home his desire Variant Title(s): Hades' Pitc Subject(s): Literary Form; Persephone PERSEPHONE, FALLING Poem Text First Line: One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful Last Line: Opens. This is how one foot sinks into the ground Subject(s): Persephone; Proserpine; Proserpina PERSEPHONE, FALLING First Line: One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful Last Line: This is how one foot sinks into the ground Subject(s): Persephone PITHOS First Line: Climb %into a jar Last Line: Your spine is a flower PLANNING THE PERFECT EVENING First Line: I keep him waiting tuck in the curtains Last Line: You are, my dear, my sweet black bear Variant Title(s): A Suite For Augustus: Planning The Perfect Evenin POEM IN WHICH I REFUSE CONTEMPLATION First Line: A letter from my mother was waiting Last Line: I'm still standing. Bags to unpack. %that's all for now. Take care POLITICAL Poem Text First Line: There was a man spent seven years in hell's circles Last Line: Of its own accord, is mistaken for song Subject(s): Literary Form POLITICAL First Line: There was a man spent seven years in hell's circles Last Line: Of its own accord, is mistaken for song Subject(s): Literary Form POMADE Poem Text First Line: She sweeps the kitchen floor of the river bed her husband saw fit POMADE First Line: She sweeps the kitchen floor of the river bed her husband saw fit Last Line: Herself slowly rolling down the sides of the earth POND, PORCH-VIEW: SIX P.M., EARLY SPRING First Line: I sit, and sit, and will my thoughts Last Line: Anyplace but here. %who am I kidding? Here I am Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Spring PRIMER First Line: In the sixth grade I was chased home by Last Line: I took the long way home, swore %I'd show them all: I would grow up PRIMER FOR THE NUCLEAR AGE Poem Text First Line: At the edge of the mariner's Subject(s): Antinuclear Movement; Nuclear Freeze PRIMER FOR THE NUCLEAR AGE First Line: At the edge of the mariner's Last Line: It will kill you PROMISES First Line: Each hurt swallowed %is a stone. Last words Last Line: The both of them blind PROTECTION Poem Text First Line: Are you having a good time? PROTECTION First Line: Are hou having a good time? Last Line: Are you really all over with? How done %is gone? QE2. TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING. THIRD DAY. Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Panel of gray silk. Liquefied ashes. Dingy percale tugged over Last Line: Well, I'd get off if I knew where to go Subject(s): Sea Voyages QUAKER OATS First Line: The grain elevators have stood empty for year QUICK First Line: Look, a baby one! Wink of fuzz Last Line: Poured into flight READING HOLDERLIN ON THE PATIO WITH THE AID OF A DICTIONARY Poem Text First Line: One by one, the words Last Line: Remembering air Subject(s): Healing; Cures READING HOLDERLIN ON THE PATIO WITH THE AID OF A DICTIONARY First Line: One by one, the words Last Line: I go under, %a skindiver %remembering air Subject(s): Healing RECEIVING THE STIGMATA First Line: There is a way to enter a field Last Line: The hatchet's shadow on the %rippling green RECOVERY First Line: He's tucked his feet into corduroy scuffs Last Line: Secrets like birdsong in the air REFRAIN First Line: The man inside the mandolin Last Line: And the bandit gaze %of the old raccoon REUNION 2005 Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Thirty seconds into the barbecue, Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks REVERIE IN OPEN AIR Poem Text Recitation First Line: I acknowledge my status as a stranger Last Line: But news of a breeze Subject(s): Air; Calm; Human Behavior; Placid; Undisturbed; Tranquility; Conduct Of Life; Human Nature RHUMBA First Line: Wait. %here comes Last Line: Into applause %now RIVE D'URALE First Line: That which is cut out Last Line: Too many cracks to think about along this spine %each step %a bead RIVE D'URALE: ASSASSINATED STORYLINES First Line: It begins with a bird who has something Last Line: Patience: the song is rising RIVE D'URALE: CEDAR WAXWING First Line: I am not a poem, not Last Line: Pleasure arrives on wings of glass %and I pay with my red bead RIVE D'URALE: FINGERTIP THOUGHTS First Line: Sehr geehrte zuschauer, do not believe Last Line: Beyond my window, %small skull grinning through the leaves? RIVE D'URALE: ONE IN THE PALM First Line: The bird? %the bird was Last Line: No angels. %a cup of coffee %and a bead of red: %perfect coherence RIVE D'URALE: THE MARCH OF PROGRESS First Line: The wall went up sleekly Last Line: The wall would be so kind as to let in %light RIVE D'URALE: THE STUDY First Line: In the luminous wood the gay sparrow Last Line: Green sparrow %the face a dream before it reaches the mirror ROAST POSSUM Poem Text First Line: The possum's a greasy critter Subject(s): Healing; Cures ROAST POSSUM First Line: The possum's a greasy critter Last Line: We enjoyed that possum. We ate him %real slow, with sweet potatoes Subject(s): Healing ROBERT SCHUMANN, OR: MUSICAL GENIUS BEGINS WITH AFFLICTION First Line: It began with a -- years before in a room Last Line: Starting over as the sky rained apples ROSA Poem Text First Line: How she sat there Subject(s): Etiquette; Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Manners; Courtesy ROSA First Line: How she sat there Last Line: When they bent down to retrieve %her purse. That courtesy Subject(s): Etiquette; Parks, Rosa (b. 1913) ROSES Poem Text Subject(s): Roses ROSES First Line: It's time you learned something Last Line: The inculpable, blushing prize ROYAL WORKSHOPS First Line: Stone kettles on the beach by sidon RUSKS Poem Text First Line: This is how it happened Last Line: Her purse. That courtesy Subject(s): Nature RUSKS First Line: This is how it happened Last Line: As my mama always said: %than none at goddam all Subject(s): Nature SAHARA BUS TRIP First Line: Roofless houses, cartons of chalk Last Line: So clear, it must come from the sky SAILOR IN AFRICA First Line: There are two white captains Last Line: But pass the time %playing cards SAINTS First Line: She used to pull them SAMBA SUMMER First Line: Broke-leg cakewalk of the drunken uncles Last Line: Show me what I've been working for SATISFACTION COAL COMPANY First Line: What to do with a day Last Line: To stand for a while, and get warm Subject(s): Cities SECRET GARDEN First Line: I was ill, lying on my bed of old papers Last Line: By a cliff of limestone that leaves chalk on my breasts SEVEN VEILS OF SALOME: HEROD, WATCHING First Line: I should have avoided this, loving her mother Last Line: You have outdone us all SEVEN VEILS OF SALOME: HERODIAS, IN THE DOORWAY First Line: More than anything I ache to see her Last Line: Under her flawless heel SEVEN VEILS OF SALOME: SALOME AWAITS HER ENTRANCE First Line: I was standing in the doorway Last Line: And beautifully arrogant head SEVEN VEILS OF SALOME: SALOME, DANCING First Line: I have a head on my shoulders Last Line: O mother, what else is a girl to do? SEVEN VEILS OF SALOME: THE FOOL, AT HEROD'S FEET First Line: Just a girl, slim-hipped, two knots Last Line: She rivets the world's desire SHAKESPEARE SAY First Line: He drums the piano wood Last Line: There'd be days like this SIGHTSEEING First Line: Come here, I want to show you something Last Line: To look at a bunch of smashed statues SILOS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Like martial swans in spring paraded against the city sky's Last Line: Dreading math work Subject(s): Americans; United States; America SILOS First Line: Like martial swans in spring paraded against the city sky's Last Line: Were the ribs of the modern world Subject(s): Americans; United States SISTERS First Line: This is the one we called SISTERS: SWANSONG First Line: We died one by one, %each plumper than the mirror Last Line: We all died of insignificance SIT BACK, RELAX Poem Text First Line: Lord, lord. No rest Last Line: Just plain grieves Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Religion; Theology SIT BACK, RELAX First Line: Lord, lord. No rest Last Line: Stand by me in this, my hour Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Religion SITUATION IS INTOLERABLE' First Line: Intolerable: that civilized word Last Line: O yes. O mercy on our souls Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (b. 1913); Racism SLAVE'S CRITIQUE OF PRACTICAL REASON First Line: Ain't got a reason Last Line: No-good reasons %for sale SMALL TOWN Poem Text First Line: Someone is sitting in the red house Last Line: To avoid being laughed at during the day Subject(s): Towns SMALL TOWN First Line: Someone is sitting in the red house Last Line: To avoid being laughed at during the day Subject(s): Towns SNOW KING First Line: In a far far land where men are men Last Line: His cracked heart a slow fire, a garnet SOMEONE'S BLOOD First Line: I stood at 6 a.M. On the wharf Last Line: From that shadow floated on broken sunlight. %I stood there.I could not help her. I forgive SON First Line: All the toothy frauleins are left behind Last Line: Its reluctant arms to boarders SONG SUMMER First Line: Sexless, my brother flies Last Line: Straight for the blue cloud %of pine SONNET First Line: Nothing can console me. You may bring silk Last Line: But it will not be happiness, %for I have known that Variant Title(s): Demeter Mourning (from Mother Love SONNET IN PRIMARY COLORS Poem Text First Line: This is for the woman with one black wing Subject(s): Kahlo, Frida (1907-1954); Women SONNET IN PRIMARY COLORS First Line: This is for the woman with one black wing Last Line: Of the thumbprint searing her immutable brow Subject(s): Kahlo, Frida (1907-1954); Women SOPRANO First Line: When you hit %the center Last Line: Gives up at last %and goes home SPY First Line: She walked alone, as she did every morning Last Line: Where was she but always coming in from the cold STARGAZING First Line: The sky is not a glass of anything STITCHES First Line: When skin opens STRAW HAT Poem Text First Line: In the city, under the saw-toothed leaves of an oak STRAW HAT First Line: In the city, under the saw-toothed leaves of an oak Last Line: But when she leaves, he always %tips his hat STROKE First Line: Later he'll say death stepped right up Last Line: Lem's heart, for safekeeping, %he shores up in his arms SUITE FOR AUGUSTUS: 1963 First Line: That winter I stopped loving the president Last Line: Me, an erector set, spilled and unpuzzled SUITE FOR AUGUSTUS: AUGUSTUS OBSERVES THE SUNSET First Line: July. The conspiracy of colors -- Last Line: The sky shakes like a flag Subject(s): Alphabet Verse SUITE FOR AUGUSTUS: BACK First Line: Three years too late, I'm scholarshipped Last Line: Dollars, they bring me back SUITE FOR AUGUSTUS: D.C. First Line: Roosters corn wooden dentures Last Line: The gray palms clap: de broomstick's jumped, the world's %not wide SUITE FOR AUGUSTUS: WAKE First Line: Stranded in the middle of the nation like this Last Line: But your breath, exalted and spearmint SUMMIT BEACH, 1921 First Line: The negro beach jumped to the twitch Last Line: With her parasol and invisible wings SUNDAY GREENS First Line: She wants to hear %wine puring Last Line: And those collards, wild-eared %singing SUNDAY NIGHT AT GRANDFATHER'S First Line: He liked to joke and all of his jokes were practical Last Line: Got to be %kidding, %son TAKING IN WASH Poem Text First Line: Papa called her pearl when he came home Subject(s): Fathers & Daughters TAKING IN WASH First Line: Papa called her pearl when he came home Last Line: And I'll cut you down %just like the cedar of lebanon Subject(s): Fathers And Daughters TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS' First Line: In the old neighborhood, each funeral parlor Last Line: August. The mums nod past, each a prickly heart on a sleeve TEOTIHUACAN First Line: The indian guide explains to the group of poets Last Line: The poets scribble in assorted notebooks. The guide moves on TESTIMONIAL Poem Text First Line: Back when the earth was new TESTIMONIAL First Line: Back when the earth was new Last Line: And the world followed me here THE BISTRO STYX Poem Text First Line: She was thinner, with a mannered gauntness Last Line: I’ve lost her, I thought, and called for the bill Subject(s): Paris, France; Persephone; Proserpine; Proserpina THE BOAST Poem Text First Line: At the dinner table, before the baked eggplant, you tell the story of your friend, ira THE BREATHING, THE ENDLESS NEWS Poem Text First Line: Every god is lonely, an exile THE ENACTMENT Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Can't use no teenager, especially Last Line: We have prepared for her Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry THE EVENT Poem Text First Line: Ever since they'd left the tennessee ridge Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks THE FISH IN THE STONE Poem Text Last Line: Strokes the fern's / voluptuous braille Subject(s): Fossils THE GREAT PALACES OF VERSAILLES Poem Text First Line: Nothing nastier than a white person! Subject(s): Versailles, Frances; Violence; Women THE GREAT PIECE OF TURF Poem Text First Line: Dug out just before sunrise Last Line: Dying before the very eye Subject(s): Nature THE HOUSE SLAVE Poem Text First Line: The first horn lifts its arm over the dew-lit grass Subject(s): Slavery; Serfs THE PASSAGE Poem Text First Line: Got up / this morning at 2:45, breakfast at 3:30 Subject(s): African Americans - Military THE POND, PORCH-VIEW: SIX P.M., EARLY SPRING Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: I sit, and sit, and will my thoughts Last Line: Who am I kidding? Here I am Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Spring THE SATISFACTION COAL COMPANY Poem Text First Line: What to do with a day Subject(s): Cities; Urban Life THE SECRET GARDEN Poem Text First Line: I was ill, lying on my bed of old papers, Subject(s): Illness THE SITUATION IS INTOLERABLE' Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Intolerable: that civilized word Last Line: O yes. O mercy on our souls Subject(s): Parks, Rosa (1913-2005); Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry THE SPRING CRICKET CONSIDERS THE QUESTION OF NEGRITUDE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: I was playing my tunes all by mysel Subject(s): African Americans; Negroes; American Blacks THE VENUS OF WILLENDORF Poem Text First Line: She kneels on a work bench Subject(s): Sculpture & Sculptors THE WAKE Poem Text First Line: Your absence distributed itself Subject(s): Wakes THE ZEPPELIN FACTORY Poem Text First Line: The zeppelin factory / needed workers, all right Subject(s): Airships THEN CAME FLOWERS First Line: I should have known if you gave me flowers Last Line: Plumage as proud, as cocky as firecrackers THERE CAME A SOUL Poem Text First Line: Http://www.Poetryfoundation.Org/poem/172126 THIS LIFE First Line: The green lamp flares on the table Last Line: Nursing the tough skins of figs THOMAS AT THE WHEEL First Line: This, then, the river he had to swim Last Line: Rise as the keys swung, ticking THREE DAYS OF FOREST, A RIVER, FREE First Line: The dogs have nothing better Last Line: Ringing darkly, underground TO BED First Line: We turn off Last Line: Last one up %is the first %to go TOU WAN SPEAKS TO HER HUSBAND, LIU SHENG First Line: I will build you a house Last Line: Over the earth, just as the legends prophesy TRANSPORT OF SLAVES FROM MARYLAND TO MISSISSIPPI First Line: I don't know if I helped him up Last Line: Even flinch. Wait. You ain't supposed to act this way TURNING THIRTY, I CONTEMPLATE STUDENTS BICYCLING HOME First Line: This is the weather of change Last Line: The complaint of these %green hills UMOJA: EACH ONE OF US COUNTS Poem Text First Line: One went the way of water Last Line: We walk on water, we write on air Subject(s): Politics & Government; War UMOJA: EACH ONE OF US COUNTS First Line: One went the way of water Last Line: Remember! %their whispers fill the arena Subject(s): Politics; War UNCLE MILLET First Line: He'd slip a rubber band around a glass of rye UNDER THE VIADUCT, 1932 Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: He avoided the empty millyards UNDER THE VIADUCT, 1932 First Line: He avoided the empty millyards Last Line: Tires slithered to a halt UPON MEETING DON L. LEE, IN A DREAM First Line: He comes toward me with lashless eyes Last Line: Rustling on brown paper wings USED Poem Text First Line: The conspiracy's to make us thin. Size threes USED First Line: The conspiracy's to make us thin. Size three's Last Line: It's hard work staying cool VACATION Poem Text First Line: I love the hour before takeoff, Subject(s): Vacation VACATION First Line: I love the hour before takeoff Last Line: Flight 828, now boarding at gate 17 VARIATION ON GAINING A SON First Line: That shy angle of his daughter's head Last Line: For the first time thomas felt like %calling him son VARIATION ON GUILT First Line: Count it anyway he wants Last Line: Thomas deals the cigars, %spits out the bitter tip in tears VARIATION ON PAIN First Line: Two strings, one pierced cry Last Line: So is the past forgiven VENUS OF WILLENDORF First Line: She kneels on a workbench Last Line: Leaning into the rising hush, %if only I could wait forever WAKE First Line: Your absence distributed itself WATCHING LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD AT ROGER HAGGERTY'S HOUSE Poem Text First Line: There is a corridor of light Last Line: That park bench, the frail wisteria. Subject(s): Marienbad, Czech Republic WATCHING LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD AT ROGER HAGGERTY'S HOUSE First Line: There is a corridor of light Subject(s): Marienbad, Czech Republic WEATHERING OUT Poem Text Recitation by Author Subject(s): Pregnancy WEATHERING OUT First Line: She liked mornings the best -- thomas gone Last Line: Between the cobblestones hung stubbornly on %green as an afterthought WHY I TURNED VEGETARIAN First Line: Mister minister I found Last Line: In the whole plot of grass WIEDERKEHR First Line: He only wanted me for happiness Last Line: I reached for it WINGFOOT LAKE Poem Text First Line: On her 36th birthday, thomas had shown her Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Swimming & Swimmers; United States - Race Relations WINGFOOT LAKE First Line: On her 36th birthday, thomas had shown her Last Line: Under the company symbol, a white foot %sprouting two small wings Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; Swimming; U.s. - Race Relations WIRING HOME First Line: Lest the wolves loose their whistles Last Line: Bright as a thousand %golden narcissi YOUR DEATH First Line: On the day that will always belong to you ZEPPELIN FACTORY First Line: The zeppelin factory %needed workers, all right Last Line: Big boy I know %you're in there Subject(s): Airships |
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