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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: HAHN, KIMIKO Matches Found: 173 Hahn, Kimiko Poet's Biography 173 poems available by this author 168TH STREET MEN'S SHELTER, 1987 First Line: Between myles and walter and alfredo Last Line: What seems like miles above the 1200 beds 30 SECONDS ON FRED CARTER First Line: Blue first told me about fred carter Last Line: Until I saw his three bedrooms %filled with hats and suits. %files. Suitcases. Cases. %and a second A BOWL OF SPAGHETTI Poem Text Subject(s): Children; Childhood A DREAM OF TOAST Poem Text First Line: Burnt before pop. Burnt before Last Line: Before martini, before computer failure, before random street murder Subject(s): Toast (food) AFTERBIRTH First Line: Waiting for my room in the recovery room Last Line: What did the afterbirth look like? %you smile, like a heart AIR ITSELF First Line: The fire hydrants clear ANNOTATION IN HER LAST COURT DIARY First Line: The before-snow sky lasted like the perpetual twilight Last Line: And come once, twice, whatever %then what? ANOTHER DAUGHTER First Line: When neighbors tell me Last Line: But, my mother tells me, baachan said girls %itsumo kaeru yo. Always %return to the black, bumpy lum ANOTHER USE FOR ICE First Line: She is dead for ninety minutes, cradled in bullets of ice Last Line: Which is, after all, just a stage of development AS THE DOLLS GROW OLDER THE GIRLS CHANGE First Line: From pine cone to spruce AVACADO First Line: Searching for one perfect avocado you walk BECOMING THE MOTHER First Line: She became a sink %she became a blind Last Line: To tuck at the foot of her own bed %for the time being BLINDSIDED First Line: They were always looking for some reason to kill us Last Line: When the interview is complete she turns toward the draft whistling in beneath the door BOAT DOWN THE RIVER OF YELLOW SILT First Line: The first box held tiny yellow apples %from the tree behind your home Last Line: Suck out these plumb tongues of fruit %that speak for you BON ODORI First Line: Nothing eats the kimonos BOX OF WHITE BUTTONS First Line: Found on the sidewalk three years ago Last Line: When I handed them twists of wash in the starched sunlight Variant Title(s): The Box Of Abandoned White Button BRONTOSAURUS First Line: I keep writing about dinosaurs Last Line: They have to be home by five. %I miss them CALF First Line: It was a day like any other Last Line: There's a saying something like: %there's the battle and there's the war CELLULOID First Line: Celluloid drew back CHEKOV'S DINER First Line: I haven't gotten to the russians yet %the snow banks, the blue hands Last Line: On the corner of %incensed CHUANG TZU'S MISTRESS SLEEPS IN A DRAFT First Line: She dreams she leans over the brown dust %and lifts a brown leaf that is a moth Last Line: Her lover always drags to his side of the mattress %or was it a monarch? She mutters CITY ARCHITECT First Line: Specializing in constructing dialysis units Last Line: From the neck down CLIPPINGS First Line: What I learned on this past trip %sexual tension is never disappointing Last Line: My basin of water %a tank of clown fish CLOSET First Line: Whether in chrome surgery %or gymnasium toilet Last Line: But reside with the stench that is cell and self? COMP. LIT.: 1 First Line: You barely remember japanese Last Line: And pull her nipples from the layers of silk %until she cries out %in a whisper close to pain COMP. LIT.: 2 First Line: Why my interest in genji? Last Line: To be in trust of her adoration and anger, %the one opening her narrative COMP. LIT.: 3 First Line: With many timid glances towards him she began to Last Line: How he envied her playmates %all holding hands at the tanabata festival COMP. LIT.: 4 First Line: The translator's subjectivity Last Line: She could bring her dolls to him %when he came home COMP. LIT.: 5 First Line: She wrote with such childish abandon Last Line: Do I examine from the male persona? COMP. LIT.: 6 First Line: That this was what genji had so long been wanting Last Line: Mind. What a fool she had been, to repose her whole %confidence in so gross and unscrupulous a man COMP. LIT.: 7 First Line: He looked behind every screen Last Line: Women surrounded him like a nest %with their bodies, fragrances, %spirits-- %but could not complete COMP. LIT.: 8 First Line: The translator puts the pen down Last Line: He walks into the bathroom, %turns off the light and sits down COPE'S RULE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: According to edward drinker cope, Subject(s): Size & Shape; Marriage; Survival; Height; Weddings; Husbands; Wives CRAB First Line: Good thing my daughter is as clever Last Line: I turned back to my cooking CRANBERRY ISLAND LATE SUMMER ('00) First Line: He can't name the insect that clicks on the rocks beyond the stand of Last Line: Noise. You show me you can name things before catching them CROISSANT First Line: Love indelicately %did you know on the flight home Last Line: We all fall in love with her %the immortal sisters CROSSING NEPTUNE AVE First Line: I recall spotting the couple Last Line: And thought of him surrounded %by flurries %on the beach CRUISE MISSILES First Line: The day opened with the paper for him Last Line: Where I stood %saying I can't hear you CRUISING BARTHES First Line: I cannot recall believing my mother possessed Last Line: My hand that close to the unconscious CUTS FROM ZUIHITSU ON MY DAUGHTER First Line: Recalling that self that dressed the way my daughter now wishes to Last Line: Rising her long auburn hair in the sink %the sink DANCE INSTRUCTIONS FOR A YOUNG GIRL Poem Text First Line: Stand: knees slightly / bent, toes in posed Last Line: Belong to you, a woman. Subject(s): Dancing & Dancers DAUGHTERS AND THE CROW First Line: The girls braid one another's hair then whine Last Line: Like a crow closing in on its inspired hunger DAY LILIES ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF MY SECOND MARRIAGE First Line: Watching the day lilies Last Line: I imagine the spent lilies %opening a second time %in the hot broth DECOMPOSITION First Line: The man next door Last Line: Though I won't have you %much longer %than a second %and the air smells sour %from the bales DETAILS WE FALL FOR First Line: Shifting to fifth and swinging behind a harley Last Line: She's working on a rough draft DISCOVERING CRUMBS ALL OVER THE PASSENGER SEAT OF THE FAMILY SEDAN First Line: There are so many stages-some as obvious Last Line: And find a mate who may or may not go? DOWNPOUR First Line: We do not know her name. We call her sei shonagon. Shonagon Last Line: Their attention %we do not know her name EARLY 70S First Line: This portrait of pedro is not a masterpiece Last Line: I wish he had sketched me for the cover of my poetry collection %pedro's lucky EARSHOT First Line: Whatever I talk about with her Last Line: And for him, boats ERRANDS First Line: You're driving us to the 24-hour supermarket Last Line: As my mother, as if breathing under water EVEREST First Line: November 11, 1919. In centralia, washington, the air Last Line: But not half as smart as one who is hungry FIGURES First Line: More apparent than a hindoo goddess %blanche dumas's body sprouted surplus leg Last Line: And why, after confusing lack or excess, should we? FIST First Line: When I see the baby explore her fist Last Line: I can only think of my own childhood in the suburbs %and cry because I love her %like a mangy please FORECLOSURE: A SERIES FOR J First Line: When I write I feel like a mother Last Line: If only she'd given a signal: %it's all right to have breasts FOUND First Line: As soon as lek sees her photograph Last Line: Aunitie sold her to a bar owner FROM MY BED THE FOGHORN BY THE PIER SOUNDS LIKE A PREHISTORIC CRY First Line: The wingspan six feet wide a million years ago Last Line: As, if not a first lover, the second or third? GARNET First Line: X wanted to present a gift %the husband would not detect Last Line: The he residing in the she %garnet hard as nipples GIRL'S FIRST LANGUAGE First Line: Is not american Last Line: It occurs to you %only women and wounded soldiers %writhe GLADIOLAS First Line: At first I wasn't sure GLASS BRACELETS First Line: I know I can only speak for myself Last Line: Hear me: I will not pray. I will not pray GOING INSIDE TO WRITE First Line: She finds the only place to write Last Line: Though her father calls from the far room %she shouts: %I can't hear you. I can't %hear you GOWANUS, LATE SUMMER Poem Text First Line: The trees flinch in late summer air over boerum hill. We already Subject(s): Summer; Vacations GREEN LANTERN First Line: Gil kane is dead at seventy-three in aventura, florida Last Line: Sparing our spouses and surely saving your collection GUARD THE JADE PASS' First Line: I am in the middle of 'the fourteen poems' by sun bu-er Last Line: An empty envelope when you forget %to enclose the letter HAWAIIAN SHIRT First Line: His earliest recollection Last Line: Years later his father told him %he was bottle-fed HEARTBEAT OF HUMIDITY First Line: Against the june heat rising from the soft avenue Last Line: The artist's translation and my own. Luxuriant and testing HEAT First Line: Did you watch women collect red seaweed Last Line: What was that strange music? %I could go on HETERALOCHA ACUTIROSTRIS Poem Text First Line: When the stunning huia became scarce HULA SKIRT, 1959 First Line: Before my fourth birthday my father Last Line: That much I remember Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; U.s. - Race Relations IF YOU SPEAK First Line: If you speak you will become Last Line: If you speak it means you remember IMAGINATION First Line: He grinds his teeth INFRARED First Line: Where does desire recede Last Line: Maybe the she will always be the one %in a bra and half-slip%kissing the boy morning INSTEAD OF SPEECH First Line: The reflection of noh actors Last Line: Calling out: nantoka nantoka soro %like sorrow, sorrow sorrow INTELLIGENTSIA OF THE CHIN DYNASTY DESIRE DESIRE First Line: I sit near the back of the pastry shop Last Line: Sitting on knees till feeling is absent %and the calligraphy generously exact IZU DANCER First Line: The story was almost too simple Last Line: It's an older italian man, moustached and serious. %but briefly that fragrance! JAM First Line: He tells me I better not %be fooling around Last Line: As if catching breath %my blood quickens as if to rip tide KAFKA'S ERECTION Poem Text First Line: Dearest l, my lovely older sister / I suggest to you what to say Last Line: I mean to wear them as dresses Subject(s): Kafka, Franz (1883-1924) KAFKA'S ERECTION First Line: Dearest l, my lovely older sister %I suggest to you what to say Last Line: Purchased at thrift shops %I mean to wear them as dresses Subject(s): Kafka, Franz (1883-1924) KOMACHI TO SHOSHO ON THE NINETY-NINTH NIGHT First Line: I will tell you what I am feeling %the back of my knee Last Line: Inner thighs your hips, my heart %your eyes LADY ROKUJO HAILS A TAXI First Line: In the early morning after she steps in %off the block of tourist bars Last Line: To enjoy feeling parched %because it is feeling LATE ENTRY IN THE FIRST WIFE'S PILLOW BOOK First Line: How can I know my glance can %echo in a man's chest cavity? How can Last Line: To provoke a heat clear %as cold air? LICE First Line: Hours of washing, drying and nit picking Last Line: A patriarchal gesture so predictable LIKE LAVRINIA First Line: Like lavrinia merli, in 1890 in mojola, mantua Last Line: It is amazing they are ever found ever LILI, 1933 First Line: He had a premonition of tubes the body manufactured Last Line: Soon the man the boy questioned will finally cease LOSS First Line: I must leave speaking LUNAR CALENDAR SHE PINS TO THE DOOR First Line: Why spend love? Why Last Line: On your own, you write to me %mortal and stunningly adequate MINE First Line: Dupont city is the kind of town Last Line: ...Where would thy put them all?' (thompson MORNING LIGHT First Line: The ceiling fan whisks the fatigue and camouflages the night Last Line: Pumps. Lipstick later. She leashes the dog and as she steps out %the door forgets her keys MOSQUITO AND ANT First Line: The immortal sisters %one has only daughters Last Line: So she might polish them in heaven %the smoke not unlike that from burnt toast or punk MOTHER IS READING DEVIANT First Line: The true-crime history of eddie gein Last Line: I never see my daughters MOTHER'S MOTHER First Line: The mother draws the shade down halfway Last Line: A few inches from my face NEW CALLIGRAPHY TUTOR IS A WOMAN First Line: One was punched in the mouth %one was stripped and locked in her room Last Line: Sloshing water onto the linoleum and singing too loudly %she loves her own voice radiating off the t NEW FATHER First Line: Setting aside her rattle and doll Last Line: We curve into each other and pulse gently %until my breasts spot your chest with milk NORA First Line: Other women say other women %gave more than nora NOTE ON THEMATIC REDUNDANCY IN WOMEN'S VERSE, NO. ONE First Line: While she sews the back hem of his coat %before he swerves Last Line: Each page %and tells her I'm trying to read NOTE ON THEMATIC REDUNDANCY IN WOMEN'S VERSE, NO. TWO First Line: Neither cognac nor tea will stall %what a run through the blizzard Last Line: I do not leave a message %about lilies OLD WOMAN'S BREAST First Line: They say childbirth is painful Last Line: He choked on the milk, imagine that OLDER CHILD First Line: What will become her earliest memory Last Line: Filled with the noise of boys in the vacant lot: %bang, boom-boom, fuckyoufuckyoufuck you ON A LINE FROM VALĂ©RY BY WAY OF CAROLYN KIZER: TOUT LE CIEL VERT SE MEURT. LE DERNIER ARBRE BRĂ»LE. Poem Text First Line: The whole green sky is dying Subject(s): Atheism ON BEING COY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Many fish in the murky ocean caves Subject(s): Man-woman Relationships; Male-female Relations ON DECEIT AS SURVIVAL Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Darwin could not believe an insect Subject(s): Deceit ON FIDELITY Poem Text First Line: Australian magpie-larks that couple and clasp Subject(s): Magpie-larks; Fidelity; Faithfulness; Constancy OPEN KITCHEN First Line: Inside the home fashioned of tin and mud Last Line: What are you talking about?' OPERATION First Line: Taking notes ORCHID ROOT First Line: Who thinks of the orchid root %but the horticulturist Last Line: On my hands, my chin, his lips %his. Mine. Plumb PASSION Poem Text Recitation First Line: The raflesia Subject(s): Passion; Flowers; Daughters PIANO First Line: The children's banging on the piano Last Line: That summer bedtime arrived %when the whole world closed its enormous eyelid Subject(s): Musical Instruments; Pianos PINE First Line: I thought wearing an evergreen dress %might be enough to express the longing Last Line: Brown needles %so prick my skin POETIC CLOSURE First Line: Curling up in my new efficiency Last Line: I asked daddy if we could go to the natural history %and get some too POLAR First Line: It was before the glacier Last Line: It isn't so much the glacier %that's come but the vernal equinox %allowing the view %I cannot move f POSSESSION: A ZUIHITSU First Line: That mother sat beside my sister, kei, and spoke to her before any of us Last Line: Whether he traveled or stayed home he could not stop thinking about %his deceased wife RADIATOR First Line: Any strong sensation is a welcome break %from oxygen Last Line: For what thread could stitch the flesh %back into one piece RADICAL NEW VIEW OF THE ROLE OF MENSTRUATION' First Line: She was dreaming Last Line: And seemed so inefficient RAZOR First Line: I want to return to the moment Last Line: At times the loss felt like an organ %one could excise with a razor READING A RELATIONSHIP-COLUMN IN A WOMAN'S MAGAZINE BEFORE BED First Line: How lavish are the pheromones? How opulent Last Line: Seated in the kitchen listening to the percolator %after that knowledge? READING THE PORTABLE JUNG AT THE CAFE WHILE WAITING FOR THE PAYPHONE First Line: Once in its life the yucca moth alights Last Line: And what image allows one to take that one flight? RECKLESS SONNET #7 Poem Text First Line: Maybe only your closest confidante Subject(s): Solitude; Loneliness REFLECTIONS OFF WHITE First Line: The werewolf is on. During her sister's wedding reception may Last Line: Ceremony. The couple stands by the window and back lit by the %mid-afternoon light, the groom doesn' REMOVING A DIAPHRAGM First Line: In the shower I notice how different Last Line: I faintly remember that moment, %thighs wide, knees and heels pulled up, %your hands open RESISTANCE: A POEM ON IKAT CLOTH First Line: By the time the forsythia blossomed RESPONDING TO LIGHT First Line: In the house with windows that look out %into the branches of a forest, into Last Line: Of the sealed-off room she knew existed all along %toward a stew fragrant with fiction REVOLUTIONS First Line: Forbidden to learn chinese Last Line: Afterbirth is not a time or reform %it belongs to a separation we turn towards ROCKHOPPER First Line: Grand jason and steeple jason, parts Last Line: Was spared from white collar poachers ROOM First Line: Murasaki knew her husband's mistress played the koto Last Line: She is my sister. %it was my room ROOM, SEL. First Line: Many of the women who fell in love with genji Last Line: At that moment: asleep and satisfied, %sea spray swooshing a lullaby ROOST First Line: The cane fields blaze SEAMS First Line: The seam was gray as that recollection Last Line: In dupont city, kanawha, goshen, confidence, %left hand, five forks, clover lick SEIZURE Poem Text First Line: In nicaragua/old women Subject(s): Nicaragua SEIZURE First Line: In nicaragua SENSE MEMORY First Line: Don't just write about the piazza navona Last Line: Just a year or two after the lover whose solar plexis or whatever %tasted like anisette SEWING WITHOUT THE MOTHER First Line: As with tending a newborn, the days pass slowly, the months Last Line: It is a solitary activity %mother, rei's feet are narrow and long like ted's SHOWER First Line: The hot spray softens her neck muscles Last Line: Like two suns emanating from her own chest SMALL PORTRAIT First Line: She distributes the two dozen Last Line: She will replace them with the same SNAKE First Line: There are somethings you can't help Last Line: Which is why I'm telling you this myself SOLITARY & GREGARIOUS Poem Text Subject(s): Locusts SOMETHING First Line: Resting her on my chest like a sleeping cat Last Line: 4 am, the curtains blowing in and out of the window %as the whole house breathes SPONGE First Line: The post card from frostproof SPRING First Line: I am very happy STEALING A LINE WRITTEN BY HAFIZ AND TRANSLATED BY EMERSON Poem Text Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters STRANDS First Line: The key warmed in your hand Last Line: How paint fits into %this narration. So you take his hand %and dip it in STRANDS, FOUR POEMS Poem Text First Line: The key warmed in your hand and you knew the password Subject(s): Male-female Relationships; Hair SUNFLOWER First Line: After thirty years maintenance in transit yards Last Line: Is so tall he ties it to the fence for support TEA First Line: This bowl TEETH First Line: Thee leaf and fruit shade spotted on his skin THE BATH: AUGUST 6, 1945 Poem Text First Line: Bathing the summer night Last Line: And to take hold. Subject(s): Antinuclear Movement; Atomic Bomb - Victims; Hiroshima, Japan; Nuclear War; Peace; Radiation & Radiation Sickness; Social Protest; Survival; War; Nuclear Freeze; Atomic Bomb; Hydrogen Bomb THE DREAM OF A FIRE ENGINE Poem Text First Line: Without the sun filtered through closed eyelids, Subject(s): Dreams; Nightmares THE DREAM OF A LACQUER BOX Poem Text First Line: I wish I knew the contents and I wish the contents Subject(s): Mothers; Heritage; Dreams; Nightmares THE HULA SKIRT, 1959 Poem Text First Line: Before my fourth birthday my father Last Line: That much I remember Subject(s): Ethnic Groups - United States; Minorities - United States; United States - Race Relations THE PERPETUATION OF SORROW Poem Text First Line: When we fragment forests Subject(s): Cowbirds THE SWEETWATER CAVERNS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Curious to see caverns Subject(s): Lakes; Caves; Youth; Aging; Disappointment; Pools; Ponds; Caverns THESE CURRENT EVENTS First Line: It is a late twentieth century cliche that we must turn off Last Line: But it fuels the gut that is able THINGS THAT MAKE ME CRY INSTANTLY€” Poem Text Subject(s): Tears; Happiness; Nostalgia; Love; Joy; Delight TISSUE First Line: I want to return to the high chair %in the terrace's noon sun Last Line: The heart inside the body the way the baby %was inside this body TOXIC FLORA Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: There is something vital Subject(s): Poison TRANSLATING ANCIENT LINES INTO THE VERNACULAR First Line: I want to go where the hysteric resides %the spinning a child knows Last Line: Or tell her %now that's enough TRANSLATOR First Line: I will not argue with god Last Line: My daughters twirl acros the carpet %and I see, gregory, beloved of bruce, %partisan blossoms in spi TUMBLER First Line: I call you %I pour one then while on the phone Last Line: To the moon's movements %and you are right UNTITLED First Line: She does not want the lizards to touch her %but she wants to look at them Last Line: Or the headless chicken %on the counter in the too-hot kitchen VALENTINE First Line: Roget's international thesaurus, third edition Last Line: The smell of raw silk after a night out VARIABLE FIELD First Line: Does the father of my daughters Last Line: Is consonant with the fervent questions %of aesthetics VIVISECTION First Line: Torso slit neatly as an envelope Last Line: I just want you to stay VOLCANO'S DESIRE First Line: The peacocks screamed through the night as they strutted Last Line: Means I want and I love. Both WAITING ON THE F PLATFORM AS PASSENGERS ARE TOLD TO TRAVEL ONE STOP... First Line: The silkworm moth possesses no special designation Last Line: That it will end after a moment, wing-torn and starved WAX First Line: I am looking for clues %on how to stay a woman, not Last Line: Through waning light %and steam rising off rivers WEST 1-0-5 First Line: Hearing it from j, ex-gangmember, ex Last Line: The blood, the blood was everywhere man WHEN I HEARD THE RED PICKUP First Line: I knew you'd driven back 3 years later and 500 miles for me Last Line: Where you gave in to my heart at last, %long last? WHISKEY FOR M First Line: Once I drank so much Last Line: You meant that much to me at the time WHITE BLOUSE First Line: Against better judgement I see her off to kindergarten Last Line: Before a downpour the earth needs desperately %for new vegetation and depleted winter reservoirs Subject(s): Kindergarten WISTERIA First Line: Speech is always a problem, learning Last Line: And some astonish everyone into reconstruction: %wave %fin %boat WOMAN WITH THE SUITCASE First Line: Is around every corner WOMEN'S RESTROOM AT THE LOCAL DINER IS OCCUPIED SO I USE THE MEN'S First Line: According to metcalf & flint, the treehoppers appear Last Line: To the dimensions of one parent over the other YOGURT First Line: Trying to pick up my screaming toddler Last Line: I search for such pleasure with my own child: %the pastoral obedience ZINC First Line: The script is useful %I can love you Last Line: I mistook pronouns %for tissue |
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