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Author: MUELLER, LISEL Matches Found: 312 Mueller, Lisel Poet's Biography Alternate Author Name(s): Muller, Lisel 312 poems available by this author A LONG WAY FROM HELL Poem Text First Line: Two-tone motels and unlit lovers' lanes Subject(s): Man-woman Relationships; Male-female Relations A NUDE BY EDWARD HOPPER Poem Text First Line: The light / drains me of what I might be Subject(s): Hopper, Edward (1882-1967); Body, Human; Models A POEM ABOUT THE HOUNDS AND THE HARES Poem Text First Line: After the kill, there is the feast Subject(s): Hunting; Hunters A PRAYER FOR RAIN Poem Text First Line: Let it come down: these thicknesses of air Subject(s): Rain ABOUT SUFFERING THEY WERE NEVER WRONG Poem Text First Line: They could have told us that the particulars Subject(s): Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907-1973); Poetry & Poets ABOUT SUFFERING THEY WERE NEVER WRONG First Line: They could have told us that the particulars Subject(s): Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907-1973); Poetry And Poets ACCOMMODATIONS First Line: The house painter is not sentimental ACTS OF MOURNING First Line: Every day I passed your tombstone AFTER THE FACE LIFT Poem Text First Line: The woman who used to be my age Variant Title(s): Face-lift Subject(s): Surgery, Plastic; Cosmetic Sugery; Face Lifts AFTER THE FACE LIFT First Line: The woman who used to be my age Last Line: For a bunch of jonquils, this year's first %yellow, about to open Variant Title(s): Face-lif Subject(s): Surgery, Plastic AFTER WHISTLER First Line: There are girls who should have been swans AFTER YOUR DEATH First Line: The first time we said your name Last Line: When we mean we can't let you go AFTERLIFE First Line: Now that the king of crime is dead Last Line: It's true, they whisper, 'see for yourself AFTERTHOUGHTS ON THE LOVERS Poem Text First Line: I imagine them always in summer Subject(s): Love ALIVE TOGETHER First Line: Speaking of marvels, I am alive Last Line: And knowledge and tears and chance ALL NIGHT First Line: All night the knot in the shoelace Last Line: And steps into air and the scent of lilacs AMERICAN LITERATURE First Line: Poets and storytellers Last Line: For starting fires in empty rooms ANIMALS ARE ENTERING OUR LIVES First Line: Enchanted is what they were Last Line: Like stray dogs circling their chosen home ANOTHER VERSION First Line: Our trees are aspens, but people ANOTHER VERSION First Line: Our tress are aspens, but people Last Line: Are early this year, hazy with green APHASIA First Line: It's not only because the world Last Line: Gives me permission to speak for her, %even if I could APOCRYPHAL STORY First Line: After his blackout, richard speck APPLES First Line: Light has transformed them. Their utility gone ART OF FORGETTING First Line: Carlota and maximilian ARTIST First Line: The girl who never speaks ARTIST'S MODEL, CA. 1912 First Line: In 1886 I came apart BACH TRANSCRIBING VIVALDI Poem Text First Line: One remembered the sunrise, how clearly it gave Subject(s): Composers; Music & Musicians BEDTIME STORY Poem Text First Line: The moon lies on the river Subject(s): Kent State University - Riot, 1970 BEDTIME STORY First Line: The moon lies on the river Subject(s): Kent State University - Riot, 1970 BEFORE THE CREDITS APPEAR ON THE SCREEN First Line: How smoothly the greyhound takes BEGINNING WITH 1914 Poem Text First Line: Since it always begins Subject(s): World War I; Ancestors & Ancestry; Fathers; Time; First World War; Heritage; Heredity BEGINNING WITH 1914 First Line: Since it always begins Last Line: And I am playing myself BIOGRAPHER First Line: God knows I've used Last Line: Whose house this is BLIND LEADING THE BLIND First Line: Take my hand. There are two of us in this cave Last Line: There are two of us here. Touch me Subject(s): Love BLOOD ORANGES First Line: In 1936, a child %in hitler's germany Last Line: Aspired to become lighter than air BLUE First Line: Even the heart, with its pretensions to red BREAD AND APPLES First Line: In the tale %the apple tree rises before her Last Line: And place it on the ground to cool BRENDEL PLAYING SCHUBERT Poem Text First Line: We bring our hands together Subject(s): Brendel, Alfred; Music & Musicians BRENDEL PLAYING SCHUBERT First Line: We bring our hands together CALLAVERIA RUSTICANA Poem Text First Line: All the fireflies in the world Subject(s): Childhood Memories; Opera; Summer CAPTIVITY: 1. First Line: Eight weeks in that closet Last Line: A beautiful word in another language, %devoid of meaning CAPTIVITY: 2. First Line: Better to pretend the man Last Line: That gleams in the bowl by the kitchen door, beckoning CAPTIVITY: 3. THE TAPES First Line: In the beginning we followed her story Last Line: This is where you belong CAPTIVITY: 4. First Line: Children never ask Last Line: To be given a home CAPTIVITY: 5. First Line: We could not forgive patricia Last Line: Of the free, anonymous life CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA First Line: All the fireflies in the world CHANCES ARE First Line: Hope is a fat seed pod CICADAS Poem Text First Line: Always in unison, they are Subject(s): Cicadas CICADAS First Line: Always in unison, they are Last Line: Hot and close, of silence CIVILIZING THE CHILD Poem Text First Line: You can't keep it, I say Subject(s): Children; Parents; Childhood; Parenthood CIVILIZING THE CHILD First Line: You can't keep it, I say Last Line: My judges, my blind jury COMMUTER Poem Text First Line: How many times have I traveled Subject(s): Commuters; Railroads; Railways; Trains COMMUTER First Line: How many times have I traveled Last Line: Into the dark station Subject(s): Commuters; Railroads CONCERT First Line: The harpist believes there is music Last Line: On the podium flaps his wings %and death is no excuse Subject(s): Music And Musicians COOK First Line: No wonder she thinks there's more Last Line: Although the paint is dry COSTUME First Line: A few weeks before halloween a local theater is selling some of its CURRICULUM VITAE Poem Text First Line: I was born in a free city, near the north sea Subject(s): Birth; Family Life; Parents; Child Birth; Midwifery; Relatives; Parenthood CURRICULUM VITAE First Line: 1) I was born in a free city, near the north sea. Last Line: 20) so far, so good. The brilliant days and nights are breathless in their hurry. %we follow, you an DAUGHTER First Line: My next poem will be happy Last Line: And this exhilerating day %cannot change that DAY LIKE ANY OTHER First Line: Such insignificance: a glance DEAF DANCING TO ROCK First Line: The eardrums of the deaf are already broken; they like it loud Last Line: Waving arms signal the sea and pull its great waves ashore Subject(s): Music, Rock DESIRE First Line: Night after night %june bugs hammer our windows Last Line: The radiance they are barred from DOVES First Line: A pair of mourning doves DRAWINGS BY CHILDREN Poem Text First Line: The sun may be visible or not Subject(s): Art & Artists DRAWINGS BY CHILDREN First Line: The sun may be visible or not Subject(s): Art And Artists END OF SCIENCE FICTION First Line: This is not fantasy, this is our life Last Line: First steps across a room EPILEPSY, PETIT MAL First Line: There are times, each day, when their child leaves them Last Line: Those mock deaths, over and over, for nothing ESCAPE First Line: Pain lines the inside of her skin Last Line: Outward through unimagined space, %already a star without memory EX MACHINA First Line: My word processor does not know shakespeare Last Line: But when he said it, his eyes were blank EXHIBIT First Line: My uncle in east germany EYES AND EARS First Line: Perhaps it's my friendship with dick Last Line: The white heat trapped inside you FACETS First Line: When you look at a bee FALL OF THE MUSE First Line: Her wings are sold for scrap FAMILY AND FRIENDS First Line: We are sitting around the table FAREWELL, A WELCOME First Line: Good-bye pale cold inconstant Last Line: Our footprints stamp you mortal FENESTRATION First Line: The surgeon says he will cut FICTION Poem Text First Line: Going south, we watched spring Subject(s): Southern States; Colors; Nature, Travel; South (u.s.) FICTION First Line: Going south, we watched spring Last Line: And meet again, shy as strangers FIGURE FOR A LANDSCAPE First Line: Look, the solitary walker FILM SCRIPT First Line: A tall, redheaded woman Last Line: And she is lost, like breath given back to the air FIRT SNOW IN LAKE COUNTY First Line: All night if fell around us %as if the sky had been sheared Last Line: And digging through the snow %to the scents and sounds below FIVE FOR COUNTRY MUSIC First Line: The bulb at the front door burns and burns FOR A NATIVITY First Line: Look: florentines and umbrians have made whole FOR A THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY First Line: You have read war and peace Last Line: Start out with that, at least FOR RICHER, FOR POORER Poem Text First Line: Three times over, since that day Subject(s): Marriage; Aging; Weddings; Husbands; Wives FOR THE STRANGERS First Line: Even this late in the century FOUND IN THE CABBAGE PATCH Poem Text First Line: The shiny head is round Subject(s): Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery FOUND IN THE CABBAGE PATCH First Line: The shiny head is round Last Line: You look good enough to eat FROM DISCO QUEEN TO GOSPEL PREACHER First Line: Beautiful cindy chants FUGITIVE First Line: My life is running away with me FULFILLING THE PROMISE First Line: A man I know named booker GARDEN First Line: I bring my mother back to life GODSPEED First Line: The right taillight continues Last Line: More than his own or the magic %of friends who wish him well GRACKLE OBSERVED First Line: Watching the black grackle Last Line: As vision, as pure light GREAT PERFORMANCES First Line: Again this morning I have escaped HALCYON DAYS First Line: All summer long the sun %was our patron on the hill Last Line: Had been arrested and we had another chance HAPPY AND UNHAPPY FAMILIES: 1 Poem Text First Line: If all happy families are alike Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives HAPPY AND UNHAPPY FAMILIES: 1 First Line: If all happy families are alike Last Line: To deserve their happiness Subject(s): Family Life HAPPY AND UNHAPPY FAMILIES: 2 Poem Text First Line: According to the director Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives HAPPY AND UNHAPPY FAMILIES: 2 First Line: According to the director Last Line: Here at home, this winter, %we have no name for it Subject(s): Family Life HEARTBREAK First Line: It's in the farthest reaches that HEARTLAND Poem Text First Line: Now that we've given our hearts away Subject(s): Hearts HEARTLAND First Line: Now that we've given our hearts away Last Line: From some anonymous ceiling %a speaker blares mon coeur, corazon, %dein ist mein ganzes herz HIGHWAY 2, ILLINOIS First Line: Look at this country Subject(s): Illinois; Roads; Solitude; Paths; Trails; Loneliness HIGHWAY POEMS First Line: The narrow black veins on the map HIGHWAY POEMS: 1 First Line: The narrow black veins on the map Last Line: Crossed fingers %broken teeth HIGHWAY POEMS: 2 First Line: Between the roof of the howard johnson Last Line: Outside a numbered door? HIGHWAY POEMS: 3 First Line: Hardly anyone takes Last Line: And news from a world with receding walls HIGHWAY POEMS: 4 First Line: Camping, you learn people Last Line: I don't believe it HIGHWAY POEMS: 5 First Line: Illinois, indiana, iowa Last Line: Is if finished, your poem? HIGHWAY POEMS: 6 First Line: We keep coming back to the old hotel, Last Line: We came from somewhere, that we are real HISTORICAL MUSEUM, MANITOULIN ISLAND Poem Text First Line: After a while it dawns on us Subject(s): Museums; Art Gallerys HOPE Poem Text First Line: It hovers in dark corners Subject(s): Hope; Optimism HOPE First Line: It hovers in dark corners Last Line: It is in this poem, trying to speak IDENTICAL TWINS First Line: When they walk past me in the park IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 1. HOW I WOULD PAINT THE FUTURE First Line: A strip of horizon and a figure Last Line: Seem from the back, forever approaching IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 2. HOW I WOULD PAINT HAPPINESS First Line: Something sudden, a windfall Last Line: Too beautiful to touch IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 3. HOW I WOULD PAINT DEATH First Line: White on white or black on black Last Line: Which I will never finish IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 4. HOW I WOULD PAINT LOVE First Line: I would not paint love IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 5. HOW I WOULD PAINT THE LEAP OF FAITH First Line: A black cat jumping up three feet Last Line: To reach a three-inch shelf IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 6. HOW I WOULD PAINT THE BIG LIE First Line: Smooth, and deceptively small Last Line: Never mind %the poison inside IMAGINARY PAINTINGS: 7. HOW I WOULD PAINT NOSTALGIA First Line: An old-fashioned painting, a genre piece Last Line: Watching the water rush %away, away, away IMMORTALITY Poem Text First Line: In sleeping beauty's castle Subject(s): Sleeping Beauty; Time; Flies IMMORTALITY First Line: In sleeping beauty's castle Last Line: Still craved its particular share %of sweetness, a century later IN MEMORY OF ANTON WEBERN, DEAD SEPTEMBER 15, 1945 Poem Text First Line: Tinged leaves lie Subject(s): Webern, Anton (1883-1945); Death; Dead, The IN MEMORY OF ANTON WEBERN, DEAD SEPTEMBER 15, 1945 First Line: Tinged leaves lie Last Line: After the sense of things IN NOVEMBER Poem Text First Line: Outside the house the wind is howling Subject(s): Conduct Of Life IN NOVEMBER First Line: Outside the house the wind is howling Last Line: That, by all rights, should have been mine IN PRAISE OF SURFACES First Line: When I touch you Last Line: Rock by wet rock, %piecemeal, %I collect you IN THE MUSEUM First Line: What draws me over and over IN THE THRIVING SEASON Poem Text First Line: Now as she ctahches fistfuls of sun Subject(s): Babies; Infants IN THE THRIVING SEASON First Line: Now as she catches fistfuls of sun Last Line: Love grows by what it remembers of love INTO SPACE First Line: How light we are becoming JANUARY AFTERNOON, WITH BILLIE HOLIDAY Poem Text First Line: Her voice shifts as if it were light Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music & Musicians; Singing & Singers; Songs JANUARY AFTERNOON, WITH BILLIE HOLIDAY First Line: Her voice shifts as if it were light Last Line: Tomorrow is something she remembers Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Holiday, Billie (1915-1959); Jazz; Music And Musicians; Singing And Singers JOY Poem Text First Line: Don't cry, it's only music Subject(s): Happiness; Grief; Love - Erotic; Joy; Delight; Sorrow; Sadness JOY First Line: Don't cry, it's only music Last Line: While our eyes fill with tears LARGE JIGSAW PUZZLE First Line: I start with the sky, my primeval LATE HOURS Poem Text First Line: On summer nights the world Subject(s): Night; Bedtime LATE HOURS First Line: On summer nights the world Last Line: Over imaginary lives LATE NEWS First Line: For months, numbness %in the face of broadcasts Last Line: As if I were still human LATE-BORN DAUGHTERS First Line: The late-born daughters of famous fathers Last Line: They sit up all night with their fathers LAUGHTER OF WOMEN First Line: The laughter of women sets fire Last Line: We heard the laughter, we understood the freedom LETTER First Line: After you left college %your room was finally orderly Last Line: To wear a patch in his carpeted cage LETTER FROM THE END OF THE WORLD First Line: The reason no longer matters Last Line: If this reaches you, wait for me LETTER TO CALIFORNIA First Line: We write to each other as if LIFE OF A QUEEN: 1. CHILDHOOD First Line: For two days her lineage is in doubt Last Line: They open her mouth and force it down LIFE OF A QUEEN: 2. THE FLIGHT First Line: She marries him in midair Last Line: Nothing of him, or their fall LIFE OF A QUEEN: 3. THE RECLUSE First Line: They make it plain Last Line: Outside, a nation %crowns its queen LONESOME DREAM First Line: In the america of the dream Last Line: Still innocent of us LOSING MY SIGHT First Line: I never knew that by august Last Line: Of sound extended to me, %the perfect listener LOST AND FOUND First Line: The gold ring is lost, it lies LOVE LIKE SALT Poem Text First Line: It lies in our hands in crystals Subject(s): Love - Nature Of; Salt LOVE LIKE SALT First Line: It lies in our hands in crystals Last Line: Talking of holidays by the sea MAGNOLIA Poem Text First Line: This year spring and summer decided Subject(s): Seasons; Spring; Magnolias MAGNOLIA First Line: This year spring and summer decided MARY First Line: Mary points to a fellow patient MERCE CUNNINGHAM AND THE BIRDS First Line: Last night I saw merce cunningham and his ten amazing dancers Last Line: And disappear into nowhere MERMAID First Line: All day he had felt her stirring Last Line: To the darkness he would not enter METAPHOR First Line: Your question persists, like the scent MIDNIGHT First Line: The spirits are not fooled MIDWINTER NOTES First Line: On my shelf of photographs Last Line: Late in the day, when the dead %are allowed their brief shining MILKWEED PODS IN WINTER First Line: Months in the house have steamed them open MIRRORS First Line: After I put on lipstick Last Line: Intrusive glare to make them explode MISSING THE DEAD Poem Text First Line: I miss the old scrawl on the viaduct Subject(s): Parker, Charlie (bird) (1920-1955); Parents; Death; Parenthood; Dead, The MISSING THE DEAD First Line: I miss the old scrawl on the viaduct Last Line: How they keep getting brighter %as we keep moving toward each other MONET REFUSES THE OPERATION Poem Text First Line: Doctor, you say there are no halos Subject(s): Monet, Claude (1840-1926) MONET REFUSES THE OPERATION First Line: Doctor, you say there are no halos Last Line: To claim this world, blue vapor without end Subject(s): Monet, Claude (1840-1926) MONEY REFUSES THE OPERATION First Line: Doctor, you say there are no haloes Last Line: To claim this world, blue vapor without end MOON FISHING First Line: When the moon was full they came to the water Last Line: In the soft, bottomless mud MOULIN ROUGE First Line: The feminine form for clown seems to be MUSE Poem Text First Line: What I look at when I type is a poster: edward hopper's nighthawks Subject(s): Hopper, Edward (1882-1967) MUSE First Line: What I look at when I type is a poster: edward hopper's nighthawks Subject(s): Hopper, Edward (1882-1967) MUSHROOMS Poem Text First Line: Only the dead could be Subject(s): Mushrooms; Morels MUSHROOMS First Line: Only the dead could be Subject(s): Mushrooms MY GRANDMOTHER'S GOLD PIN First Line: The first fleur-de-lis is for green-stemmed glasses with swirls Last Line: An age when the dream of man nearly came true NAMES Poem Text First Line: A few names tell it all Subject(s): Names; Social Commentaries NAMES First Line: A few names tell it Last Line: Scrubs out our mouths %till we cry mercy NAMING THE ANIMALS First Line: Until he named the horse horse Last Line: Of who she was, with her small hands NECESSITIES First Line: A map of the world. Not the one in the atlas Last Line: So we could name our deepest sadness Variant Title(s): Second Languag NEED TO HOLD STILL First Line: Winter weeds, %survivors %of a golden age Last Line: Lines in the rock %on the wall %the page NEW YEAR'S First Line: Outside the house a crow NIGHT SONG First Line: Among rocks, I am the loose one Last Line: Among the bones you find on the beach, %the one that sings was mine NIGHT VOYAGE: A DREAM First Line: The boatman, a silhouette Last Line: We were not frightened, only entranced NINE MONTHS MAKING Poem Text Subject(s): Pregnancy; Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery NOCTURNE First Line: Sometimes, in the dead of night, I wake up in an immense hole of NOT ONLY ESKIMOS Poem Text Subject(s): Snow NOT ONLY THE ESKIMOS First Line: We have only one noun Last Line: With childhood again each year NUDE BY EDWARD HOPPER First Line: The light %drains me of what I might be Last Line: Between these bones - %I live here O BRAVE NEW WORLD, THAT HATH SUCH PEOPLE IN IT' First Line: Soon you will be like her, prospero's daughter Last Line: Banish yourself from the one flawless place ON FINDING A BIRD'S BONES IN THE WOODS First Line: Even einstein, gazing Last Line: Of sound and motion ON READING AN ANTHOLOGY OF POSTWAR GERMAN POETRY Poem Text First Line: America saved me Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Germany; Germans ON READING AN ANTHOLOGY OF POSTWAR GERMAN POETRY First Line: America saved me Last Line: And splits, a living cell, %into its destinies ONE MORE HYMN TO THE SUN First Line: You know that like an ideal mother Last Line: Changed its shape again and again ORAL HISTORY First Line: I will never forget the day PALINDROME Poem Text First Line: Somewhere now she takes off the dress I am putting Subject(s): Self PALINDROME First Line: Somewhere now she takes off the dress I am putting Last Line: With both of us looking the other way Subject(s): Self PAPER-WHITE NARCISSUS Poem Text Subject(s): Paperwhite Narcissus PAPER-WHITE NARCISSUS First Line: Strange, how they got their name Last Line: Protection or violation, %and they are blind PAUL DELVAUX: THE VILLAGE OF THE MERMAIDS First Line: Who is that man in black, walking PEOPLE AT THE PARTY First Line: They are like tightrope walkers, unable to fall PHOTOGRAPH First Line: It must have taken her eighteen years- Last Line: How heaped %in fine, pale threads around her feet, %and turns her newborn face toward me PICKING RASPBERRIES First Line: Once the thicket opens Last Line: Which has no place there PIGEONS Poem Text First Line: Like every kingdom Subject(s): Pigeons PIGEONS First Line: Like every kingdom %the kingdom of birds Last Line: And welcomed them to our gardens PILLAR OF SALT First Line: More and more I resemble Last Line: Seeping back into the sea PLACE AND TIME Poem Text First Line: Last night a man on the radio Subject(s): War; Transience; Family Life; Impermanence; Relatives PLACE AND TIME First Line: Last night a man on the radio Last Line: As an empty threat PLEASE STAND BY First Line: With the sound off, they look like us when we dream POEM FOR MY BIRTHDAY Poem Text First Line: I have stopped being the heroine Subject(s): Birthdays; Self POEM FOR MY BIRTHDAY First Line: I have stopped being the heroine POPPY First Line: When they stop reaching for the moon Last Line: They will tell you as gently as they can POPULAR MUSIC First Line: She does like lurid plots, but opera Last Line: Needs to be quiet %while someone lays down tracks of pain %over hers like a pair of hands POSSESSIVE CASE First Line: Your father's mustache Last Line: My papa's waltz %your father's mustache POWER OF MUSIC TO DISTURB First Line: A humid night. Mad june bugs dash themselves Last Line: By shock of ecstasy and heat of pain PRIVATE LIFE First Line: What happens, happens in silence Last Line: One sudden silent flower, %one inscrutable life PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Poem Text First Line: Three images flash on the screen Subject(s): Pasteur, Louis (1822-1895); Hitler, Adolf (1889-1945); Books; Youth; Reading PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT First Line: Three images flash on the screen QUEEN OF SHEBA SAYS FAREWELL First Line: Sir, as one royal personage to another Last Line: I shall not come again QUESTIONING First Line: Mute and dazed, she has surfaced READER First Line: A husband. A wife. Three children. Last year they did not exist Last Line: Would have let me say good-bye READING THE BROTHERS GRIMM TO JENNY Poem Text First Line: Jenny, your mind commands Subject(s): Fairy Tales; Grimm, Jacob Ludwig Carl (1785-1863); Grimm, Wilhelm Carl (1786-1859) READING THE BROTHERS GRIMM TO JENNY First Line: Jenny, your mind commands Last Line: The terror and the bliss, %the world as it might be? Subject(s): Fairy Tales; Grimm, Jacob Ludwig Carl (1785-1863); Grimm, Wilhelm Carl (1786-1859) RESONS FOR NUMBERS First Line: Because I exist Last Line: There is nothing like it in nature Variant Title(s): Reasons For Number ROMANTICS Poem Text First Line: The modern biographers worry Subject(s): Man-woman Relationships; Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897); Schumann. Clara (1819-1896); Male-female Relations ROMANTICS First Line: The modern biographers worry Last Line: Leaving us nothing to overhear SANS SOUCI (FREDERICK THE GREAT'S SUMMER PLACE NEAR POTSDAM) First Line: It does not make sense in terms of historical fact SCENARIOS First Line: She always thinks it's only SCENIC ROUTE First Line: Someone was always leaving SECOND SIGHT First Line: How cruel to have the future stuffed in one's eyes SEEING THEM ON TELEVISION Poem Text First Line: The miner's wives and children Subject(s): Industry; Labor & Laborers; Work; Workers SEEING THEM ON TELEVISION First Line: The miner's wives and children Last Line: That has dropped low enough %for decorum Subject(s): Industry; Labor And Laborers SHORT HISTORY OF THE ROSE First Line: You will know me Last Line: Awaiting %a special evening SILENCE AND DANCING First Line: Silence and dancing %is what it comes down to Last Line: From the well-groomed words on her lips SLEEPLESS Poem Text First Line: No use pushing against the dark Subject(s): Insomnia; Sleeplessness SLIDES First Line: My friend has no wish to travel, 'I don't have to visit las vegas,' he Last Line: Pristine, tucked-in, that gives no hint of its intentions SMALL POEM ABOUT THE HOUNDS AND THE HARES First Line: After the kill, there is the feast Last Line: How lovely their scared, gentle eyes Variant Title(s): A Poem About The Hounds And The Hare SNOW First Line: Telephone poles relax their spines Last Line: Feel how light they are, our lives SOMETIMES, WHEN THE LIGHT Poem Text First Line: Sometimes, when the light strikes at odd angles Subject(s): Childhood Memories SOMETIMES, WHEN THE LIGHT First Line: Sometimes, when the light strikes at odd angles Last Line: You would die, or be happy forever SOUTHPAW First Line: Were you an only child?' she asks Last Line: The song of a mermaid with two left arms STALKING THE POEM First Line: Only one word will do. It isn't on the tip of your tongue, but you STATUES First Line: In prague, or perhaps budapest Last Line: Whose streamers promise water STILL LIFE First Line: Think of the time the words STONE SOUP First Line: So easy to stir up a feast STORM First Line: To see the lightning STORY First Line: You are telling a story Last Line: And they will, they will SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW Poem Text First Line: Watch any cool northern girl Subject(s): Women; Italy; Sex; Italians TALKING TO HELEN: 1. THE SOURCE First Line: A well %that ran deeper Last Line: Before %it bloomed %into light TALKING TO HELEN: 2. THE WORD WATER First Line: The word water, meaning Last Line: For the real name of the world TALKING TO HELEN: 3. THE SAVIORS First Line: Before you knew the word dream Last Line: Language, the word saved TALKING TO HELEN: 4. THE WORD FEELING First Line: You feel with your fingers Last Line: Meaning the thin-skinned sisters %of the fleshier reds TALKING TO HELEN: 5. THE WORD VAST First Line: Flying above the clouds Last Line: Into four brief letters, %already obsolete TALKING TO HELEN: 6. THE WORD AUTUMN First Line: Helen, this is a maple leaf Last Line: Before moving on to another town TEARS First Line: The first woman who ever wept Last Line: Carried the sea inside her body THE ARTIST'S MODEL, CA. 1912 Poem Text First Line: In 1886 I came apart Subject(s): Models; Aging; Transience; Impermanence THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND Poem Text First Line: Take my hand. There are two of us in this cave Subject(s): Love THE BRIDE'S COMPLAINT Poem Text First Line: I saw the face of my loved naked Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives THE CONCERT Poem Text First Line: The harpist believes there is music Subject(s): Music & Musicians THE DEAF DANCING TO ROCK Poem Text First Line: The eardrums of the deaf are already broken; they like it loud Subject(s): Music, Rock; Rock & Roll THE END OF SCIENCE FICTION Poem Text First Line: This is not fantasy, this is our life. Subject(s): Modern Life THE GIFT OF FIRE Poem Text First Line: In a time of damnation Subject(s): Antiwar Movements; Self-immolation; Anti-war Protests THE LONESOME DREAM Poem Text First Line: In the america of the dream Subject(s): Dreams; United States; Race Awareness; Nightmares; America THE MERMAID Poem Text First Line: All day he had felt her stirring Subject(s): Mermaids & Mermen THE POEM OF LOVE Poem Text First Line: Not about her who turns dancer Subject(s): Love THE SIEGE Poem Text First Line: Once, when he was away, across the sea Subject(s): Absence; Separation; Isolation THE STORY Poem Text First Line: You are telling a story Subject(s): Love - Nature Of THE WEB Poem Text First Line: I am stuck fast and so THERE ARE MORNINGS First Line: Even now, when the plot THINGS Poem Text First Line: What happened is, we grew lonely Subject(s): Body, Human THINGS First Line: What happened is, we grew lonely Last Line: So we could pass into safety THIS WINTER First Line: Each morning I used to open my eyes THOUSAND AND FIRST NIGHT First Line: I did what the rug makers do THREE POEMS ABOUT THE VOICELESS First Line: The voiceless wear scarves pulled tight TRIAGE Poem Text First Line: Bertolt brecht lamented that he lived in an age when it was almost Subject(s): Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956) TRIAGE First Line: Bertolt brecht lamented that he lived in an age when it was almost Last Line: Dissapointment settling in your face Subject(s): Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956) TRIAGE First Line: Bertolt bercht leamented that he lived in an age when it was almost a crime to Last Line: This as you listen to me, disappointment settling in your face TRIUMPH OF LIFE: MARY SHELLEY First Line: My father taught me to think UNANSWERED QUESTION First Line: If I had been the lone survivor Last Line: What word would it have been UP NORTH First Line: Already they are flying back VERTUOSI Poem Text First Line: People whose lives have been shaped Subject(s): Parents; Parenthood VIRTUOSI First Line: People whose lives have been shaped VISITING MY NATIVE COUNTRY WITH MY AMERICAN-BORN HUSBAND First Line: I am as much of a stranger VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 1. THE VOICE OF THE TRAVELER WHO ESCAPED First Line: No matter how exhausted you are Last Line: And throws away the key VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 2. WARNING TO VIRGINS First Line: Each year you become more wary Last Line: There is no second chance VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 3. A VOICE FROM OUT OF THE NIGHT First Line: Remember me, I was a celebrity Last Line: And cry, 'not me! Not me VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 4. THE HUNTER'S VOICE First Line: Happily, I am exempt Last Line: I have changed the plot of your lives VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 5. THE FALSE BRIDE'S SIDE OF THE STORY First Line: Kindness ran in your blood Last Line: I may step out of the sun, %large and dark as life VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 6. THE THIRD SON'S CONFESSION First Line: Early on I was chosen Last Line: But I've forgotten the wish VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 7. FLESH AND BLOOD First Line: This is my brother the fat, caged boy Last Line: Human, you'll leave me, my six mute swans VOICES FROM THE FOREST: 8. THE VOICE FROM UNDER THE HAZEL BUSH First Line: I died for you. Each spring Last Line: With the wedding dance, it goes on VOYAGER First Line: No one's body could be that light WEDNESDAYS First Line: Each wednesday afternoon WHAT IS LEFT TO SAY First Line: The self steps out of the circle WHAT THE DOG PERHAPS HEARS Poem Text First Line: If an inaudible whistle Subject(s): Animals; Dogs; Music & Musicians WHAT THE DOG PERHAPS HEARS First Line: If an inaudible whistle Last Line: The egg broken, the nest alive, %and we heard nothing when the world changed Subject(s): Animals; Dogs; Music And Musicians WHAT WILL YOU DO First Line: What did you do when the glacier Last Line: That's what you will do WHEN I AM ASKED Poem Text WHEN I AM ASKED Last Line: The only thing that would grieve with me Subject(s): Flowers; Gardens And Gardening; Poetry And Poets WHOEVER YOU ARE: A LETTER First Line: Someone who does not know you Last Line: Had anything to do with you WHY I NEED THE BIRDS Poem Text First Line: When I hear them call Subject(s): Birds WHY I NEED THE BIRDS First Line: When I hear them call Last Line: Which they announce %from their high lookouts %before dawn has quite broken for me WHY WE TELL STORIES Poem Text First Line: Because we used to have leaves Subject(s): Story-telling WHY WE TELL STORIES First Line: Because we used to have leaves Last Line: We will begin our story %with the word and WIDOW First Line: What the neighbors bring to her kitchen Last Line: Dries out on the kitchen table WORK TO BE DONE First Line: Whatever happens, I was once WRITING IN THE EIGHTIES Poem Text First Line: Memoirs used to be written Subject(s): Writing & Writers WRITING IN THE EIGHTIES First Line: Memoirs used to be written YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR: 1. ASYLUM First Line: I cannot ask you to paint the tops Last Line: My leper's rattle, my yellow star YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR: 2. ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Poem Text First Line: The underpaid young teacher Subject(s): English As A Second Language; Teaching & Teachers; Educators; Professors YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR: 2. ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE First Line: The underpaid young teacher Last Line: Could be curled seedlings, could take root, %could develop leaves Subject(s): English As A Second Language; Teaching And Teachers YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR: 3. CROSSING OVER First Line: There comes a day when the trees Last Line: That surprise you with their strange, bright birds |
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