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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: HARVEY, MATTHEA Matches Found: 102 Harvey, Matthea Poet's Biography 102 poems available by this author BY BICYCLE Poem Text First Line: It's not good or bad it's how you get around these Last Line: Singing and the spokes all spinning in response Subject(s): Bicycles; Cycling BY BICYCLE First Line: It's not good or bad it's how you get around these Last Line: Singing and the spokes all spinning in response CEILING UNLIMITED SERIES First Line: God of seedpods, we are wallowing in it Last Line: Worn coin. I would have liked an answer CROWDS CHEERED AS GLOOM GALLOPED AWAY First Line: Everyone was happier. But where did the sadness go? Last Line: With those big black eyes, was almost sure to win DOUBLE PORTRAIT, CARNIVAL, 1925 First Line: I worked on us Last Line: And we stood there in disguise EVERYTHING MUST GO Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Today's class 3-deifying: Last Line: The body but not the dreaming head FESTIVAL OF GIOVEDI GRASSO First Line: Because it means looking into the sun, the people can barely see Last Line: And the sun slips down the churchsteps one by one Subject(s): Festivals; Sun FREDERICK COURTENEY SELOUS'S LETTERS TO HIS LOVE First Line: Why do you not ask me about the lions you write of the dying Last Line: Who turn around and charge when they have been betrayed GEM IS ON PAGE SIXTY-FOUR First Line: Ahem said the guards when anyone lingered too long Last Line: Which couldn't be taken away & poured down the sink GOING OFF THE DEEP END INTO CONFECTIONERY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: We're the anemones guarding Last Line: We sugar the obstacle dark Subject(s): Fish GOOD ARE BAD FOR BUSINESS First Line: That cupid sure was stupid the money's in the breaking Last Line: To come home late I still get kisses from the mrs GRADATIONS OF BLUE Poem Text First Line: The scent of pig is faint tonight Last Line: But the exact bend in the river behind them, the pattern of trees Subject(s): Aging GRADATIONS OF BLUE First Line: The scent of pig is faint tonight Last Line: But the exact bend in the river behind them, the pattern of trees HOW ALL THINGS VESTIGIAL GAINED PRESTIGE First Line: A man once sent his daughter to show &tell with Last Line: Of sheep from stealing away and slipping into the sea I MAY AFTER LEAVING YOU WALK QUICKLY OR EVEN RUN Poem Text First Line: Rain fell in a post-romantic way. Last Line: Glum was the woman in the ostrich feather hat Subject(s): Divorce I MAY AFTER LEAVING YOU WALK QUICKLY OR EVEN RUN First Line: I meant me in the general sense Last Line: Was the woman in the ostrich feather hat IDEAS ONLY GO SO FAR Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Last year I made up a baby. I made her in the shape of a hatbox or a cake. I could have iced her & Last Line: Sunset—quite unlike my baby, who like any good idea, eventually ended up dead Subject(s): Babies; Infants IDEAS ONLY GO SO FAR First Line: Last year I made up a baby. I made her in the shape of a Last Line: Quite unlike my baby, who like any good idea, eventually %ended up dead ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 1. MONOSCENE First Line: A master illuminator once painted the holy virgin Last Line: To shave before setting out across the legume ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 2. DIPTYCH First Line: Five of my hands %would have fit Last Line: The divine he'd say %kicking her under the table ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 3. MONOSCENE First Line: I thought of writing as painting's poor relation Last Line: But a loop of hair or longer line makes all the difference ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 4. TRIPTYCH First Line: Necessary writing tools Last Line: Smooth the vellum ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 5. MONOSCENE First Line: When I showed him my band of red angels a camel Last Line: His eyes seemed to follow them over the hill ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 6. DIPTYCH First Line: Light comes in from the left more color less color Last Line: Next I shall have you paint judas ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT: 7. MONOSCENE First Line: I page through the book Last Line: Twisting the ring on her finger IMAGE CAST BY A BODY INTERCEPTING LIGHT First Line: Shadows simplify-the beak combing the back is lost Last Line: The order of creation-that god made the sun and made us after IMPLICATIONS FOR MODERN LIFE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The ham flowers have veins and are rimmed in rind, each petal a little meat sunset. I Last Line: Mud. If you stay, I will find you fresh hay Subject(s): Flowers; Animals IN DEFENSE OF OUR OVERGROWN GARDEN Poem Text First Line: Last night the apple trees shook and gave each lettuce a heart Last Line: To close I’m sorry there won’t be any salad and I love you Subject(s): Gardens & Gardening; Relationships IN DEFENSE OF OUR OVERGROWN GARDEN First Line: Last night the apple trees shook and gave each lettuce a heart Last Line: To close I'm sorry there won't be any salad and I love you INTRODUCTION TO DISEASE First Line: Call me responsible. %(like all of them %it loves an exam) Last Line: Like that. %I do. Like that INTRODUCTION TO EDEN First Line: Call me what you will Last Line: In case the gate sings back INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD Poem Text First Line: For the time being Last Line: Feel something catch Subject(s): Conduct Of Life LESSONS IN SEEING: 1. EXAMINATION First Line: The child studies the e in its various Last Line: T b v muttering why don't these damn things ever form a word LESSONS IN SEEING: 2. TROMPE L'OEIL First Line: This project is to copy a carpet they are giving away because Last Line: Fool the eye into seeing what is there behind and beyond LESSONS IN SEEING: 3. RESTORATION First Line: Most people would not know where to begin with such a Last Line: And found the grain the imperfections the lines to follow LETTING GO First Line: The first time he saw a bell do a full somersault Last Line: He wanted to hang on and go clanging up into the sky MEAT RAVIOLI VS. SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE First Line: Little girls sat on the edge of the pool Last Line: Self as discrete package or self in the world MEMENTO MORI First Line: A brown leaf struggles against the sky Last Line: As always on purpose they have left too much MINARETS & PINNACLES First Line: Around 5 o'clock even the grounded crowds Last Line: She loved it-which was truly inexplicable MORE SKETCHES FOR A BEAUTIFUL HAT First Line: Plain black hat with waterfall veil Last Line: Naturally quite an inspiration to me NAPOLEON'S GARDENS First Line: We were betting all yellow Last Line: We needed to take what you tasted NEED FOR CONSISTENCY First Line: Once the stagecoach was stopped &the thieves found Last Line: She knew exactly what time her husband would be back NEW FRIENDS Recitation by Author First Line: Plant me just below the potatoes Subject(s): Burials NO-HANDS Poem Text First Line: No-hands has hands but he keeps them clenched in fists at his chest. He appeared long ago on the Last Line: I give you something and you take it from me Subject(s): Hands NOT SO MUCH MINIATURE AS FAR AWAY First Line: Little was left of the forest Last Line: Be silverfish, be blimp NUDE ON A HORSEHAIR SOFA BY THE SEA First Line: I don't know what to do with his body Last Line: The iris must look like from inside the eye OBJECTIVE FATIGUE First Line: How wonderful to have something felt be fact, to be told you cannot Last Line: To turn to someone and say this is what you have done OBOE PLAYER First Line: His lips are full, but to play he must fold them in Last Line: Echoed back in each footstamp, each clap ONE FILAMENT AGAINST THE FIRMAMENT First Line: Most days group v. Practiced on seeing through Last Line: Formed to research why it had left but it never became clear ORNAMENTAL First Line: Winters, he reletters Last Line: Delight as the rooster %turns red OUR AMERICAN HUSBANDS WERE BORN Poem Text Last Line: Into their studies, they study Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives OUR SQUARE OF LAWN First Line: From the parrot's perch %the view is always hello Last Line: It is the closest we come %to dreaming OUTSIDE THE RUSSIAN-TURKISH BATHS First Line: A fragment of speech cuts though the thick night air Last Line: From the bath's underskirts and mixes with the fog Variant Title(s): Outside The Russian-turkish Bath PAINT YOUR STEPS BLUE First Line: It is spring & people are out repainting their front steps Last Line: Lie on the ground & a boy on a skateboard rides over over them PITY THE BATHTUB ITS FORCED EMBRACE OF THE HUMAN FORM Poem Text First Line: Pity the bathtub that belongs to the queen its feet Last Line: Inside the body oh pity the bathtub but pity us too Subject(s): Baths & Bathing; Showers & Showering PITY THE BATHTUB ITS FORCED EMBRACE OF THE HUMAN FORM First Line: Pity the bathtub that belongs to the queen its feet Last Line: Inside the body oh pity the bathtub but pity us too POEM (TO BE READ WITH PHILIP GLASS?ÇÖS STRING QUARTET NO. 5) Poem Text First Line: Inside the bell jar of the glass factory Last Line: Shivers in the newly imagined breeze Subject(s): Glass, Philip RESTRICTED VISTA Poem Text First Line: Where they've punched holes in the roof, Last Line: Panoramas pulsing beneath each shoe Subject(s): Photography & Photographers SAD LITTLE BREATHING MACHINE Poem Text First Line: Under its glass lid, the square Last Line: The present is in there somewhere Subject(s): Conduct Of Life SELF-PORTRAIT IN BLUE JACKET, 1950 First Line: What is not in the picture: a field of poppies Last Line: Still holding my breath SELF-PORTRAIT IN TUXEDO, 1927 First Line: I can mock the debonair pose of hand on hip Last Line: In a dream sequence your taffeta would not burn SELF-PORTRAIT WITH BLUE-BLACK GLOVES, 1948 First Line: Is it true that the night you said to me, sweetly Last Line: Would not find it beautiful SELF-PORTRAIT WITH GLASS BALL, 1936 First Line: And so I held it softly to my chest Last Line: It knew my heart, was my heart SELF-PORTRAIT YELLOW-PINK, 1943 First Line: I said goodbye with yellow on my cheek Last Line: Sometimes you are very hard to please SETTING THE TABLE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: To cut through night you'll need your sharpest scissors. Cut around the birch, the Last Line: And eat it between the two scenes. Your food will taste just right Subject(s): Food & Eating SHIVER & YOU HAVE WEATHER Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: In the aftermath of calculus Last Line: As always I was beside myself Subject(s): Disappointment SHIVER & YOU HAVE WEATHER First Line: In the aftermath of calculus Last Line: As always I was beside myself STATE OF EXPECTATION First Line: Again housewives took blue pills to magnify the moment Last Line: A medal which he modestly said he had never expected TERROR OF THE FUTURE / 4 Poem Text First Line: You had to win the sweepstakes Last Line: So what if the grass was really green glass? Subject(s): Wit & Humor TERROR OF THE FUTURE / 7 Poem Text First Line: Sweetheart, there’s no one on the street Last Line: Historian. Help me with that “or” Subject(s): Terror THAT WAS THE FIRST DAY & WE NEVER FORGOT IT First Line: Our questions started small: why was the radio warm when we Last Line: Wish I could see just you THE BACKYARD MERMAID Poem Text First Line: The backyard mermaid slumps across the birdbath, tired of fighting birds for seeds Last Line: She wants to get lost in that sad glowing square of blue. Don’t you? Subject(s): Cats THE CROWDS CHEERED AS GLOOM GALLOPED AWAY Poem Text Recitation by Author Last Line: Larger horses’ faces. Gloom, #341, with those big black eyes, was almost sure to win Subject(s): Grief; Sorrow; Sadness THE FESTIVAL OF GIOVEDI GRASSO First Line: Because it means looking into the sun, the people can barely see Subject(s): Festivals; Sun; Fairs; Pageants THE FUTURE OF TERROR / 1 Poem Text Last Line: Of a schoolbag could send us scrambling Subject(s): Schools; Students THE FUTURE OF TERROR / 5 Poem Text First Line: If there were gamebirds in our gables, Last Line: While we spun ever-so-slowly below Subject(s): Religion; Theology THE FUTURE OF TERROR / 7 Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: From the gable window, we shot Last Line: My note (for nobody) and I’m ready Subject(s): Terror THE GEM IS ON PAGE SIXTY-FOUR Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Ahem said the guards when anyone lingered too long Last Line: Which couldn’t be taken away & poured down the sink Subject(s): Sex THE GOLDEN AGE OF FIGUREHEAD Poem Text First Line: First we sloughed off the sailors—when a storm hit we’d lean into it and watch as they slipped Last Line: Was invented, like the giant tenor who unbuckles his belt and lets out his one truest note Subject(s): Sailing & Sailors; Ships & Shipping THE INVENTION OF FILM Recitation by Author Subject(s): Prehistoric Peoples THE INVENTION OF LOVE Recitation by Author First Line: The cace woman and the cave man lie side by side Subject(s): Love; Prehistoric Peoples THE RADIO ANIMALS Poem Text First Line: The radio animals travel in lavender clouds. Last Line: Tests of true or false Subject(s): Communication THERMAE: 1. VESTIBULUM (ENTRANCE HALL) First Line: Because he is thinking so hard about his ode, because his Last Line: The attendant has to take off the gold coin from him THERMAE: 1. VESTIBULUM (ENTRANCE HALL) First Line: Because he is thinking so hard about his ode, because his mind is full Last Line: Attendant has to take the gold coin from him THERMAE: 2. APODYTERIUM (DRESSING ROOM) First Line: Constellations in the corners. Having unwound their masters' Last Line: Sun glints and boats in the flecks of their eyes THERMAE: 2. APODYTERIUM (DRESSING ROOM) First Line: Constellations in the corners. Having unwound their masters' togas Last Line: And boats in the flecks of their eyes THERMAE: 3. PALAESTRA (ATHLETICS ROOM) First Line: O fickle muse, feather ball tossed between men, you come Last Line: The bright mosaic floor. If it were that easy. If you could %wrestle it down THERMAE: 3. PALAESTRA (ATHLETICS ROOM) First Line: O fickle muse, feather ball tossed between men, you come when Last Line: Could wrestle it down THERMAE: 4. LACONICUM (SWEATING ROOM) First Line: Steam makes a dream scene out of the sweating men. He Last Line: With strigils until told to stop. He rubs his back against a %marble wall THERMAE: 4. LACONICUM (SWEATING ROOM) First Line: Steam makes a dream-scene out of the sweating men. He doesn't Last Line: Against a marble wall THERMAE: 5. CALIDARIUM (HOT ROOM) First Line: He will focus on a woman. Always a good idea. Where shall Last Line: The walls. Studying them he decides to use stanzas THERMAE: 5. CALIDARIUM (HOT ROOM) First Line: He will focus on a woman. Always a good idea. Where shall she sit? In Last Line: There are separate baths along the walls. Studying them he decides to %use stanzas THERMAE: 6. TEPIDARIUM (WARM ROOM) First Line: With his toe he traces the arabesques from the walls onto the Last Line: Act like ideas, but not exactly THERMAE: 6. TEPIDARIUM (WARM ROOM) First Line: With his toe he traces the arabesques from the walls onto the bottom Last Line: Similes seem more scrupulous. Aqueducts act like ideas, but not exactly THERMAE: 7. FRIGIDARIUM (COLD ROOM) First Line: Rain comes in through the oculus making a splashing circle Last Line: Up, fish from the waist down, with a heart that can't tell %the difference THERMAE: 7. FRIGIDARIUM (COLD ROOM) First Line: Rain comes in through the oculus making a splashing circle the Last Line: The waist up, fish from the waist down, a heart that can't tell the %difference THIS HOLDS WATER First Line: Those who have no visitors visit the outside weather Last Line: Until the boat reaches a lower level and floats down the river TOE THE LINE WITH ME First Line: We needed water & frozen water Last Line: Looked in through the screendoor. %I sat next to my ex TRANSLATION First Line: They see a bird that is bright in both beak and feather Last Line: Clothesline with a red shirt on it but she sees a bird WAC-A-MOLE REALISM?ÄÓ Poem Text First Line: At the carnival, robo-boy sees only things he recognizes. The ferris wheel is an Last Line: —and then wham, it disappears Subject(s): Popular Culture WAITRESSING IN THE ROOM WITH A THOUSAND MOONS Poem Text First Line: Is difficult at best. The moons desperately want to circle Last Line: The tables. Our leader has left us too Subject(s): Waiters & Waitresses; Food & Eating WORD PARK Poem Text First Line: Proper nouns are legible in any light and like to stay near their Last Line: The photograph the water is bluer than blue Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary |
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