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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: PASTAN, LINDA Matches Found: 572 Pastan, Linda Poet's Biography 572 poems available by this author 1932 First Line: I saw my name in print the other day Subject(s): Death; Dead, The 1932 First Line: I saw my name in print the other day Last Line: A hammer poised...Delivering its blow Subject(s): Death 1936, UPSTATE NEW YORK First Line: In rural america, or the country Last Line: She packed up fast, and we returned %to the steamy city 25TH ANNIVERSARY First Line: There is something I want Last Line: Even death, as we are %as we are now 25TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION Poem Text First Line: We come to hear the endings Subject(s): Reunions; Aging 25TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION First Line: We come to hear the endings Last Line: Turned into %ourselves 27-MAR First Line: In this country Last Line: Of heaven must answer to it 4 A.M. First Line: What blandishments the world offers Last Line: The breathing out, the breathing in Subject(s): Dawn; Insomnia; Sleep; Waking 5-MAR First Line: March is the start Last Line: To tell them. Ask me now A CRAVING FOR SALT Poem Text First Line: Because I don't trust the future Last Line: Was simply everything. Subject(s): Past A DANGEROUS TIME First Line: November is a dangerous time for trees Last Line: And a wolf is at the door Subject(s): November; Trees A NEW POET Poem Text First Line: Finding a new poet Subject(s): Poetry & Poets A RAINY COUNTRY Poem Text First Line: The headlines and feature stories alike A REAL STORY Poem Text First Line: Sucking on hard candy Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives A SHORT HISTORY OF JUDAIC THOUGHT IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Poem Text First Line: The rabbis wrote Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality; Theology A TOURIST AT ELLIS ISLAND Poem Text First Line: I found him, jankel olenik, Subject(s): Immigrants; Fathers; Ellis Island, New York Harbor; Emigrant; Emigration; Immigration ACCIDENT First Line: For a time ACCIDENTS Poem Text First Line: There is no infant Subject(s): Accidents; Hospitals ACCIDENTS First Line: There is no infant ADULTERY; First Line: What does it mean Last Line: We would hardly listen Subject(s): Adultery AFTER First Line: After the month %in sicily Last Line: Or we may miss them %in the swelling dark AFTER A LONG ABSENCE, I RETURN TO A SITE OF FORMER HAPPINESS First Line: This is what the world will be Last Line: Of self-pity, then someone else must write it AFTER A MONTH OF RAIN Poem Text First Line: Everything I thought I wanted Subject(s): Nature AFTER AGATHA CHRISTIE First Line: In the locked room Subject(s): Fictional Characters; Criminal Investigation & Detection AFTER AGATHA CHRISTIE First Line: In the locked room Last Line: Have no alibi %at all AFTER AN ABSENCE Poem Text First Line: After an absence that was no one's fault Subject(s): Absence; Marriage; Separation; Isolation; Weddings; Husbands; Wives AFTER AN ABSENCE First Line: After an absence that was no one's fault Last Line: If your mouth will fill with water or sand AFTER MINOR SURGERY Poem Text First Line: This is the dress rehearsal Subject(s): Surgery AFTER MINOR SURGERY First Line: This is the dress rehearsal Last Line: It knows %it cannot keep AFTER READING NELLY SACHS First Line: Poetry has opened all my pores Last Line: That surely time will cut through %like a rough knife kerneling corn AFTER READING PETERSON'S GUIDE First Line: I used to call them AFTER X-RAY Last Line: To shine somewhere like strung beads of coral Subject(s): X-rays; Bones AGORAPHOBIA Poem Text First Line: Imagine waking / to a scene of snow so new Subject(s): Home AGORAPHOBIA First Line: Imagine waking Last Line: Outside the bolted doors AIR WAR First Line: The red-tailed hawk Last Line: Trail of smoke. I blink - %a smoke of feathers ALGEBRA First Line: I used to solve equations easily Last Line: At a fixed rate Subject(s): Mathematics ALGEBRA First Line: I used to solve equations easily Last Line: Toward which we speed like trains, %at a fixed rate ALL I WANT TO SAY Poem Text First Line: When I pass you this bowl Subject(s): Talk ALL I WANT TO SAY First Line: When I pass you this bowl Last Line: The clouds are saying %all I want to say ALL WE HAVE TO GO BY Poem Text First Line: As if I had dreamed the snow Subject(s): Snow ALL WE HAVE TO GO BY First Line: As if had dreamed the snow Last Line: Forms a cloud %which may turn %to rain later, %somewhere else ALMANAC OF LAST THINGS First Line: From the almanac of last things Last Line: Just as it is ready %to go out ALMOST AN ELEGY Poem Text First Line: You have always lived in the shadows cast Subject(s): Conduct Of Life; Change; Aging ALOMST AN ELEGY First Line: You have always lived in the shadows cast Last Line: For the eyelid's fringed curtain %to be raised again ... %and slowly lowered AM First Line: The child gets up Last Line: Over the side of the bed Subject(s): Waking; Morning; Cold; Childhood Memories AM First Line: The child gets up Last Line: Over the side of the bed AN EARLY AFTER LIFE Poem Text Subject(s): Future Life; Retribution; Eternity; After Life AN EVENING OUT First Line: I have wandered into chekhov Last Line: Velvety and dark / finally falling Subject(s): Introspection; Life; Self ANGELS Poem Text First Line: I am tired of angels Subject(s): Angels ANGELS First Line: I am tired of angels Last Line: Extracting all the promises %I made to her but couldn't keep ANGER First Line: You tell me %that it's all right Last Line: And I will never let it go ANIMALS First Line: When I see a suckling pig turn Last Line: Shut on them, as eden's did ANNA AT 18 MONTHS Poem Text First Line: Just as it did Subject(s): Babies; Infants ANNA AT 18 MONTHS First Line: Just as it did %for eve Last Line: Lashes, beating %their tiny wings ANON. First Line: We mustn't speak the name %of god, we're told Last Line: Washing the set stones %in color ANOTHER AUTUMN First Line: Another autumn, the dogwoods turning first Last Line: Wanting her to flee that ravished flesh %but willing her to stay ANSWERING MACHINE First Line: I call and hear your voice Last Line: Then listen and hang up APPLE SHRINE First Line: Last week you gathered armfuls of apple blossoms Last Line: Our tree will be strung with a rosary of apples Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality APRIL Poem Text First Line: A whole new freshman class Subject(s): Poetry & Poets APRIL First Line: The young cherry trees %stick out their limbs Last Line: How many leaves %open their green shutters now %to let april through Subject(s): Poetry And Poets APRIL AGAIN First Line: April again, / the funeral month, heaping Last Line: Under my feet Subject(s): April; Farm Life; Spring APRIL AGAIN First Line: April again %the funeral month, heaping Last Line: Linoleum, shift again %under my feet ARCADIA First Line: There is always a bare house Last Line: Solid as a dream at the moment of waking ARITHMATIC LESSON: INFINITY Poem Text First Line: Picture a parade of numbers: 1 Subject(s): Numbers ARITHMETIC LESSON: INFINITY First Line: Picture a parade of numbers: 1 Last Line: Dependent, monogamous 2; %3 ARITHMETIC OF ALTERNATION First Line: Today I write %of the shadows Last Line: It keeps us honest, %it keeps us turning %the page ARK First Line: We all know Last Line: We all know Subject(s): Arks; Noah (bible); Rites & Ceremonies; Jews; Women's Rights ARK First Line: We all know %how the animals entered Last Line: And the white flash %of the dove's return ARMONK First Line: In sleep I summon it--dark green shutters Last Line: White shirt and dark cravat ARS POETICA 2. WRITING First Line: In the battle %between the typewriter Last Line: Who would rather be %head down, grazing ARS POETICA 3. REJECTION SLIP First Line: Darling, though you know Last Line: Waiting to fit %in my bed ARS POETICA 4. REVISION First Line: The tree has been green Last Line: To start over again ARS POETICA 5.ARS POETICA First Line: Escape from the poem Last Line: On which you've draped a coat %that will fit anyone ARS POETICA 1. THE MUSE First Line: You may catch %a butterfly Last Line: It is just %a moth ASK ME First Line: Some time when the river is ice ask me ASPECTS OF EVE Poem Text First Line: To have been one / of many ribs Subject(s): Religion; Theology ASPECTS OF EVE First Line: To have been one %of many ribs Last Line: Which unexpectedly %open Subject(s): Religion AT GETTYSBURG Poem Text First Line: These fields can never be Subject(s): Gettysburg Campaign (1863); Gettysburg, Battle Of AT HOME First Line: The secret stangers Last Line: It is the loaf %of exile AT INDIAN RIVER INLET First Line: Long before there was light, water Last Line: The moon comes, casting %its mended net AT MY DESK Poem Text First Line: How many times Subject(s): Stafford, William Edgar (1914-1993); Poetry & Poets AT MY DESK First Line: How many times AT THE AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM Poem Text First Line: When I was / nearly six my Subject(s): Fathers & Daughters; Childhood Memories AT THE EQUESTRIAN MUSEUM Poem Text First Line: I want to be that dark woman Subject(s): Horseback Riding AT THE EQUESTRIAN MUSEUM First Line: I want to be that dark woman AT THE GYNECOLOGIST'S First Line: The body so carefully %contrived for pain Last Line: Galloping towards death %with flowers of ether in my hair AT THE JEWISH MUSEUM First Line: We can endure the eyes %of these children lightly Last Line: In a coal cellar, on ludlow street %in nineteen hundred AT THE LOOM Poem Text First Line: You sit at the loom Subject(s): Weavers & Weaving AT THE LOOM First Line: You sit at the loom Last Line: Go bone naked %we are clothed AT THE STILL POINT First Line: In april AT THE TRAIN MUSEUM Poem Text First Line: Topeka ... Junction city Subject(s): Museums; Railroads; Art Gallerys; Railways; Trains AT THE TRAIN MUSEUM First Line: Topeka ... Junction city Last Line: And only half awake Subject(s): Museums; Railroads AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN First Line: At summer camp, / I wrapped my arms around Last Line: In my own small commonwealth Subject(s): Camping; Trees; Bronx, New York City; Country Life; City & Town Life; Nature; Camps; Summer Camps AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 1. First Line: On the grand concourse Last Line: His leg, had to imagine %the roughness of bark AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 2. First Line: And though I saw Last Line: I wouldn't learn for years %the commonness of green AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 3. First Line: At summer camp, %I wrapped my arms around Last Line: For its silence, blaming, %blaming Subject(s): Camping AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 4. First Line: It is all in code Last Line: Those green, secret %envelopes AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 5. First Line: In the ritual combat Last Line: On the heraldic smell %of woodsmoke? AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 6. First Line: Write of the streets Last Line: Of the helpless leaves %spreading their tethered wings AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN GREEN: 7. First Line: Here at last, among Last Line: In my own small %commonwealth AUTUMN Poem Text First Line: I want to mention Subject(s): Autumn; Death; Fall; Dead, The AUTUMN First Line: I want to mention Last Line: And the whole world goes up %in orange and gold BALANCE First Line: On the small, imaginary Last Line: Or the future, when the air %that nourishes us %we breathe %without thinking BALANCING ACT: FOR N First Line: Like chinese acrobats Last Line: Are going %down BARBECUE Poem Text First Line: In the late light Subject(s): Cooking & Cooks; Cookery BASEBALL Poem Text First Line: When you tried to tell me Subject(s): Sports BASEBALL First Line: When you tried to tell me Last Line: And you said: that's it. %yes Subject(s): Sports BEALL MOUNTAIN SEASONAL: 1. COLUMBUS DAY First Line: Tentative %as envoys to Last Line: Is simply %winter BEALL MOUNTAIN SEASONAL: 2. THANKSGIVING First Line: Like a secret %suddenly disclosed Last Line: Into a disappearing %arrow BEALL MOUNTAIN SEASONAL: 3. THE FIRST DAY OF WINTER First Line: How many birds %will disappear Last Line: Rusted away %already? Subject(s): Nature BEAUTY SHOP Poem Text First Line: Named for the archangel michael Subject(s): Hair; Barbers BEAUTY SHOP First Line: Named for the archangel michael BEAVERS First Line: The way beavers make Last Line: That beavers mate for life Subject(s): Beavers BECAUSE First Line: Because the night you asked me Last Line: Because everything is ordained: %I said yes BEECH AVENUE: THE FOURTH OF JULY First Line: How heavy the summer seems, how thick-waisted Last Line: Hesitant all day finally starts to fall? BESS Poem Text First Line: When bess, the landlord's black-eyed Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters; Dreams; Nightmares BESS First Line: When bess, the landlord's black-eyed Last Line: The name indelible as a birthmark BETWEEN GENERATIONS First Line: I left my father in a wicker basket Last Line: Pushes love down the steep incline %from father to child, always down? BICENTENNIAL WINTER First Line: The only revolution is among the oaks Last Line: To dare the dangerous %freedom of the skater BIRDS First Line: Are heading south, pulled Last Line: The mute weathervanes, %teaching all of us %with their tailfeathers %the true north Subject(s): Nature BLIZZARD Poem Text First Line: The snow / has forgotten Subject(s): Snow BLIZZARD First Line: The snow %has forgotten Last Line: Falls out of the %sky BLOCK First Line: I place one word slowly Last Line: All the way back %to silence BOOK First Line: In the book of shadows Last Line: Only the shadows welcome us %beneath their cool canopy BOOKSTALL First Line: Just looking at them Last Line: A curious ballast weighting me %here to the earth BOREDOM First Line: In this place, though the seasons Last Line: As they fall; it is an illness %for which all cures, except the last %are temporary BREAD Poem Text First Line: It seems to be the five stages Subject(s): Bread BRONX, 1942 First Line: When I told him to 'shut up,' Last Line: I started to come apart BUTTER First Line: You held the butter- %cup under my chin Last Line: Knife through %butter CALL First Line: In empty rooms %a telephone %is always %ringing Last Line: Who is left %to answer? CAMELLIAS First Line: I drag the lawn chair Last Line: Into the dangerous air CAMPING AT THE HEADLAND OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK First Line: We love each landscape Last Line: When we take the river %into our arms CAMPING AT THE HEADLANDS OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK Poem Text First Line: We love each landscape Subject(s): Camping; Camps; Summer Camps CARNIVAL EVENING First Line: Despite the enormous evening sky Last Line: As if the whole darkening world %were dimming its lights for a party CAROLINE First Line: She wore %her coming death Last Line: She'd simply button it %and go CIRCE First Line: I will always be the other woman Last Line: And the forecast is hurricane CLINIC First Line: In the perfect democracy CLOCK Poem Text Subject(s): Clocks; Transience; Impermanence COMING ON OF NIGHT First Line: When ambition, like a faulty Last Line: It is almost time to feel our way %out of the world CONSOLATIONS First Line: Listen: %language does the best it can Last Line: Down the dark stem %of evening CORONARY BYPASS First Line: So now they've made a detour COSSACKS First Line: For jews, the cossacks are always coming Last Line: But listen: those are hoofbeats %on the frosty autumn air COUNTING BACKWARDS Poem Text First Line: How did I get so old Subject(s): Aging COURBET'S STILL LIFE WITH APPLES AND POMEGRANATE First Line: To lift himself from one of his depressions Last Line: Not for his failures %but for how hard he tried COUSINS Poem Text First Line: We meet at funerals Subject(s): Cousins COUSINS First Line: We meet at funerals Last Line: And even its marching music funereal CROCUSES Poem Text First Line: They come / by stealth, spreading Subject(s): Crocuses; Plants; Seasons; Planting; Planters CROCUSES First Line: They come %by stealth, spreading Last Line: Of an army still massing %just to the south Subject(s): Crocuses; Plants; Seasons CROSSING First Line: I wake to the small applause %of rain, then sleep again Last Line: Between sleep %and what is coming next CROWS First Line: Like old greek widows in black Last Line: Prophetic women doling out luck %still, I was afraid CYCLONE First Line: With a broom as tall as he is Last Line: All that must fall DANGEROUS MONTH OF MARCH Last Line: Strewn with resurrected daffodils DANGEROUS TIME First Line: November is a dangerous time for trees Last Line: That the stars will rise like gooseflesh, %and a wolf is at the door DAVID First Line: This one, said the sculptor, is the last of the biblical figures Subject(s): Religion DAYLIGHT SAVINGS First Line: I hadn't remembered Last Line: Wrapping themselves in the dark %serge of their wings DEATH IS INTENDED First Line: Isn't that what eskimos did when they were old Last Line: Even the white new hampshire mountains Subject(s): Death; Eskimos; Ice; Native Americans; Old Age DEATH OF A PARENT First Line: Move to the front %of the line Last Line: Its rusted padlock %into place DEATH OF A RIDGEBACK First Line: I have survived %another small death Last Line: Comes night after night %on four furred feet DEATH OF THE SELF First Line: Like discarded pages %from the book Last Line: Of buried acorns, %nothing is lost DEATH'S BLUE-EYED GIRL Poem Text First Line: When did the garden with its banked flowers Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips DEATH'S BLUE-EYED GIRL First Line: When did the garden with its banked flowers Last Line: Empty sleeves and she was gone Subject(s): Travel DEATHWATCH BEETLE First Line: A cardinal hurls itself Last Line: To this crimson bird? DECEMBER 18: FOR M Poem Text First Line: At the waning of the century Subject(s): Time DECEMBER 18: FOR M First Line: At the waning of the century Last Line: To sleep under the sway %of all that silence DEER First Line: To the secret places Last Line: They destroy %everything we grew DEPARTURES First Line: They seemed to all take off Last Line: To be left behind DESCENT First Line: My mother grows smaller DETAIL FROM THE ALTARPIECE AT GHENT First Line: The angels %in the corner Last Line: Can strike them %back to song DIDO'S FAREWELL First Line: The rain is chronic DIRGE First Line: The poets are falling, falling Last Line: And full of the intensity of words, %rush to meet it DOGWOODS First Line: I remember, in the week Last Line: Of petals %one week in april DON'T THINK OF THIS First Line: Don't think of this as a final meal Last Line: Still waited to dawn ahead of us DONATELLO'S MAGDALENE Poem Text First Line: Old woman / enrobed in nothing Subject(s): Women - Old Age; Donatello (1386-1466) DONATELLO'S MAGDALENE First Line: Old woman DREAM PLANTS First Line: You give me fuchsias for my birthday Last Line: I look for in books DREAMING OF RURAL AMERICA Last Line: The prong of an impossible star DREAMS Poem Text First Line: Dreams are the only Subject(s): Dreams; Nightmares DREAMS First Line: Dreams are the only Last Line: Like the tail of a comet %that has just blazed by DRIFT First Line: Lying in bed this morning Last Line: Against your back, dreaming %of asia minor DUET FOR ONE VOICE First Line: I sit at your side Last Line: From the page, you %have escaped from me Variant Title(s): Washing My Hands Of The In EARLY AFTERLIFE First Line: Why don't we say goodbye right now Last Line: Nothing could touch us. We'd never %have to say goodbye again ECLIPSE First Line: A few minutes past noon Last Line: I fear in this strange dusk %but the inexplicable order of things EFFETS DE NEIGE: IMPRESSIONISTS IN WINTER First Line: Soaked as they were in the yellow light Last Line: Of winter, with a hundred icy shades %of arctic white Subject(s): Art And Artists; Winter EGG Poem Text First Line: In this kingdom Subject(s): Eggs EGG First Line: In this kingdom %the sun never sets Last Line: The first delicate crack %of lightning ELEGY First Line: Last night the moon lifted itself Last Line: Or newly shovelled earth %settling ELEGY First Line: Somewhere a poem Last Line: Of my father's face ELIZABETHAN Poem Text First Line: Her sex sent her mother Subject(s): Elizabeth I, Queen Of England (1533-1603 ELSEWHERE First Line: Like a shabbos goy Last Line: For arrows, for pens %for prophecy EMILY DICKINSON Poem Text First Line: We think of her hidden in a white dress Subject(s): Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886) EMILY DICKINSON First Line: We think of her hidden in a white dress Last Line: Of vision, the serious mischief %of language, the economy of pain Subject(s): Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886) ENGLISH NOVEL First Line: In the english novel, where is spent my girlhood Last Line: Somehow acquired her blonde hair and blue, blue eyes? EPILOGUE Poem Text First Line: Years later the girl died Subject(s): Transience; Impermanence EPILOGUE First Line: Years later the girl died Last Line: On which everything remains %to be written Subject(s): Transience EROSION Poem Text First Line: We are slowly / underminded. Grain Subject(s): Environment; Change; Environmental Protection; Ecology; Conservation EROSION First Line: We are slowly Last Line: Moving slowly, slowly %from under me ESPALIERED PEAR TREES Poem Text First Line: You tack the pear trees to the wall Subject(s): Pear Trees; Pears ESPALIERED PEAR TREES First Line: You tack the pear trees to the wall Last Line: I dream of the fleeting %taste of pears ETHICS Poem Text First Line: In ethics class so many years ago Subject(s): Woman - Old Age; Paintings & Painters ETHICS First Line: In ethics class so many years ago Last Line: And painting and season are almost one %and all beyond saving by children EVENING AT BIRD ISLAND Poem Text First Line: I travel to bird island Subject(s): Birds EXCURSION Poem Text First Line: I am a tourist Subject(s): Self EXCURSION First Line: I am a tourist Last Line: Knows me best %in the dark EXTREMITIES Poem Text First Line: Yesterday I feared Subject(s): Fear; Grief; Sorrow; Sadness EXTREMITIES First Line: Yesterday I feared EYES ONLY Poem Text First Line: Dear lost sharer Subject(s): Letters EYES ONLY First Line: Dear lost sharer Last Line: To build %between us FAITH Poem Text First Line: With the seal of science / emblazoned Subject(s): Creation; Faith; Science; Belief; Creed; Scientists FAITH First Line: With the seal of science %emblazoned Last Line: As I've always done before Subject(s): Creation; Faith; Science FALL IN THE LITERARY REVIEW First Line: Though we're pages apart this time Last Line: You keep addressing. I like %to think it's me FAME First Line: There will be no vivid colors Last Line: One day sooner than last year %be forgotten FAMILY SCENE: MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY First Line: In the photograph you and I sit together Last Line: Or the weather which we call luck? FAMILY TREE Poem Text First Line: How many leaves Subject(s): Death; Trees; Dead, The FAMILY TREE First Line: How many leaves Last Line: The long story %of smoke FIRING THE MUSE First Line: I am giving up the muse calliope Last Line: The biscuit I keep concealed in my pocket FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF First Line: The night I lost you Last Line: Grief is a circular staircase. %I have lost you FLOWERS Poem Text First Line: The deep strangeness Subject(s): Flowers FLOWERS First Line: Someone I love is getting married Last Line: Floats for a little while, delicate as foam %on the water, before it disappears FOLK TALE Poem Text First Line: All knobs and knuckles, hammer knees and elbows Subject(s): Children; Childhood FOLK TALE First Line: All knobs and knuckles, hammer knees and elbows Last Line: They turned and lost themselves in so much space FORESHADOWING First Line: Is what writers call it, meaning Last Line: Which, mouth against mouth, %we could deny FRANCES AND MARY ALLEN, SEWING GROUP, CA. 1900 First Line: The three fates in dark %skirts and starched shirtwaists Last Line: Embroidered with those skeins of light %we still call stars FRESCO First Line: In masaccio's 'expulsion %from the garden' Last Line: From abel on one, %cain on the other FRUIT OF THE TREE First Line: There were so many Last Line: Of the whole %dying year FUNERARY TOWER: HAN DYNASTY First Line: In this season of salt Last Line: We carry our childhoods %in our arms GENETICIST First Line: I thought you were your father Last Line: Delivered at last. %open it! GEOGRAPHY First Line: I am haunted by the names Last Line: Also small, also nameless GHOSTS First Line: My lovely ghosts are unaware Last Line: When I speak your names aloud %I think you forgive me GLADIOLA Poem Text First Line: In noisy shades of Subject(s): Gladiola GLADIOLA First Line: In noisy shades of Last Line: Notes %of a flute %opening one stop %at a time GLASS OF COLD WATER First Line: Poetry is not a code %to be broken %but a way of seeing %with the eyes shut Last Line: A way station %on the unswerving %road to thirst GLEANING First Line: Driving from coast Last Line: To find what grains of corn %are left GO GENTLE First Line: You have grown wings of pain Last Line: Passing this disappearing place GOLDWASSER First Line: The snowstorm GRACE Poem Text First Line: When the young professor folded Subject(s): Grace GRAFFITI, ROUTE 22 First Line: The four letter %words in glistening Last Line: In the acrobatic %hieroglyphics %of love GRAMMAR LESSON First Line: Move into %the past tense %where memory %is negotiable Last Line: Eliminate verbs %of motion %finally change %to the plural %where you will %never be %lonely again Subject(s): Grammar; Poetry And Poets GREEN THUMB First Line: No bigger than a thumb Last Line: The tree frog's song %reminds me of GRIEF Poem Text First Line: How did your grief Subject(s): Grief; Sorrow; Sadness GRUDNOW Poem Text First Line: When he spoke of where he came from Subject(s): Grandparents; Immigrants; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Emigrant; Emigration; Immigration GRUDNOW First Line: When he spoke of where he came from Last Line: That might have been sweet in grudnow HAPPIEST DAY First Line: It was early may, I think Last Line: And offered a steaming cup of coffee HARDWOOD First Line: Do these gnarled and twisted trees Last Line: There are stumps %to rest on everywhere Subject(s): Nature HAT LADY First Line: In a childhood of hats Last Line: Winked at her and tipped his cap HELEN BIDS FAREWELL TO HER DAUGHTER HERMIONE Poem Text First Line: There is time before I go Subject(s): Farewell; Mothers & Daughters; Coming Of Age; Parting HIGH SUMMER First Line: The earth smells of flowers Last Line: In all that it conceals HIPPOLYTE AT BREAKFAST Poem Text First Line: She has forgotten Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters; Family Life; Relatives HOME FOR THANKSGIVING Poem Text First Line: The gathering family Subject(s): Thanksgiving Day I AM LEARNING TO ABANDON THE WORLD Poem Text Subject(s): Conduct Of Life I MARRIED YOU Poem Text Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives ICE AGE First Line: The pterodactyl on the roof Last Line: To leave our bones behind IDEAL CITY First Line: Set in the silence of pure perspective Last Line: With the scarlet graffiti of laughter Subject(s): Cities; Italy; Pleasure IDEAL CITY First Line: Set in the silence of pure perspective Last Line: With the scarlet graffiti of laughter IF I HAD TO LIVE MY LIFE AGAIN Poem Text First Line: If I had to live / my life again Subject(s): Life IF I HAD TO LIVE MY LIFE AGAIN First Line: If I had to live %my life again Last Line: Of bootprints engraved %upon new snow Subject(s): Life IMPERFECT PARADISE: IN THE GARDEN First Line: How do we tell the flowers from the weeds Last Line: While dandelions and chokeweed multiply IMPERFECT PARADISE: SEASONAL First Line: Which season is the loveliest of all? Last Line: As autumn torches all the fragile leaves IMPERFECT PARADISE: SOMEWHERE IN THE EUPHRATES First Line: Somewhere in the euphrates, buried, lost Last Line: Digging up eden with a single hoe IMPERFECT PARADISE: THE IMPERFECT PARADISE First Line: If god had stopped work after the fifth day Last Line: Or the strict contract between love and grief? IN A NORTHERN COUNTRY Poem Text First Line: Yesterday in a northern country Subject(s): Aunts; Death; Dead, The IN A NORTHERN COUNTRY First Line: Yesterday in a northern country Last Line: Until november came %with its winds and took them IN ANOTHER COUNTRY First Line: The trick is to leave yourself behind Last Line: No more for now %than the mother of beauty IN BACK OF First Line: In back of 'I love you' %stands 'goodbye Last Line: They raise their left %in farewell IN EARLY MARCH First Line: Those first impressions IN MIDAIR First Line: This is the closest Last Line: To what we think of as heven, %and somehow alive IN THE ABSENCE OF WINGS First Line: Somewhere, a gardener IN THE FALL Last Line: Like drops of ritual %blood for the songbirds %to swallow IN THE FOREST Poem Text First Line: The trees are lit Subject(s): Jews; Autumn; Judaism; Fall IN THE KINGDOM OF MIDAS First Line: If you follow the sun Last Line: On your closed lids %forever IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIFE First Line: Tonight I understand Last Line: The last perhaps, %or even the first IN THE OLD GUERILLA WAR Last Line: On my housedress %bloom at once Subject(s): Hate IN THE OLD GUERRILLA WAR IN THE REALM OF PURE COLOR First Line: It is our eyes that lose Last Line: In the foreground, the tropical color %of sand after the sea has receded IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR First Line: Driving all night in winter Last Line: From the white ribbon %of unwinding road IN THIS SEASON OF WAITING First Line: Under certain conditions Last Line: Then the earth becomes an emblem %for whatever we believe INSOMNIA Poem Text First Line: I remember when my body Subject(s): Aging INSOMNIA First Line: At the rising of stars INSTRUCTIONS FOR DECANTING WINE First Line: You must choose a bottle INSTRUCTIONS TO THE READER First Line: Come. Suspend %willingly or not Last Line: Only thus %is sleep possible INTERLUDE Poem Text First Line: We are waiting for snow Subject(s): Snow INVALID First Line: You lie spread-eagled on the bed Last Line: As one of your fevered poems Subject(s): Sickness ISLANDS First Line: In paradise, a breeze Last Line: Of the eyes to close for good on winter IT IS RAINING ON THE HOUSE OF ANNE FRANK Poem Text First Line: It is raining on the house Subject(s): Frank, Anne (1929-1945); Holocaust, Jewish - Aftermath IT IS RAINING ON THE HOUSE OF ANNE FRANK First Line: It is raining on the house Last Line: Within the dark circle %of his demons Subject(s): Frank, Anne (1929-1945); Holocaust, Jewish - Aftermath JANUARY, 7 A.M. First Line: Albino morning %windows like milk glass Last Line: Of the milkman's horse, %long ago pastured JAPANESE LANTERN First Line: After dreaming for years Last Line: And translated here %as snow JOURNEY'S END First Line: How hard we try to reach death safely Last Line: Avert your eyes fro windows grimed with twilight %where landscapes rush by, terrible and lovely JUMP CABLING Poem Text First Line: When our cars touched Subject(s): Automobiles - Mantenace & Repair JUNP CABLING First Line: When our cars touched Last Line: In the tale woke with a start, %I thought why not the ride the rest of the way together? KEEPER First Line: In tintoretto's creation of the animals KNOTS First Line: In the retreating tide Last Line: Bedsheets together %to flee by LAST TRAIN First Line: There may have been a boy Last Line: High above the dreamlike shapes of clouds Subject(s): Railroads LAST UNCLE First Line: The last uncle is pushing off %in his funeral skiff Last Line: On the mapless shore %of this raw, new century LAST WILL First Line: Children %when I am ash LAST WORDS First Line: Let us consider LATE AFTERNOON, ST. JOHN Poem Text First Line: A little blue heron has landed Subject(s): Seashore; Beach; Coast; Shore LATE LOVE SONGS: 1. CLERESTORY First Line: Because, like the sun Last Line: This morning, and lights the entire room Subject(s): Love LATE LOVE SONGS: 2. MARCH HAIKU First Line: White petals, not snow Last Line: Our winter picnic Subject(s): Love LATE LOVE SONGS: 3. FLOODPLAIN First Line: In this strange spring Last Line: Take hold everywhere Subject(s): Love LATE LOVE SONGS: 4. ENVOI First Line: In this brief space I try Last Line: In all the dark places Subject(s): Love LAWS OF PRIMOGENITURE First Line: My grandson has my father's mouth Last Line: A future he thinks he's inventing %all by himself LE SENS DE LA NUIT First Line: Here are some clues %to the meaning of night Last Line: Go back to the dark sea %they came from? LE SENSE DE LA NUIT Poem Text First Line: Here are some clues Subject(s): Night; Bedtime LEAVES First Line: A gypsy reads the palm Last Line: The gypsy says: I see white leaf-shaped flakes come %shivering down, but the future is green LEAVING THE ISLAND Poem Text First Line: We roll up the rugs and strip the neds by rote Subject(s): Summer; Vacation; Moving LEAVING THE ISLAND First Line: We roll up rugs and strip the beds by rote Last Line: The ferry is no simple pleasure boat LETTER First Line: It is december in the garden Last Line: When will you be coming back LETTERS First Line: If I read what you once wrote Last Line: With its cursive hooks and in whose blue flood %of ink I could so easefully drown LIBATION, 1966 First Line: We used to sacrifice young girls Last Line: In a green maze, %under a sky as hot a crete LISTS First Line: I made a list of things I have Last Line: Then made a list of his own: %starling, deer, and serpent LOST KINGDOM First Line: I remember the castle Last Line: Before the years had trickled through %my hands, like water LOST LUGGAGE First Line: Today in a palace disguised Last Line: May be found, though always %in another language and untranslatable LOVE LETTER First Line: It has snowed %on this page Last Line: The only cloud %on which I can rest %my head LOVE POEM Poem Text First Line: I want to write you Subject(s): Love; Poetry & Poets LOVE POEM First Line: I want to write you Last Line: Soaked we must %grab each other Subject(s): Love; Poetry And Poets LOW TIDE LULLABY FOR 17 Poem Text First Line: You are so young Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters; Youth LULLABYE FOR 17 First Line: You are so young LUMBERJACKS First Line: They entered eden Last Line: And it was evening %and another day MARIA IM ROSENHAAG First Line: The virgin of the roses Last Line: Stolen by death and only returned to me in dreams %and longings and here in mystery MARKET DAY Poem Text First Line: We have travelled all this way Subject(s): Markets; France; Supermarkets MARKET DAY First Line: We have traveled all this way Last Line: Another language I almost understood MARKS Poem Text First Line: My husband gives me an a Subject(s): Judgments; Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives MARKS First Line: My husband gives me an a Last Line: I pass. Wait 'til they learn %I'm dropping out Subject(s): Judgments; Marriage MCGUFFEY'S FIRST ECLECTIC READER First Line: The sun is up Last Line: Trotting home %for dinner MEDITATION AT 30,000 First Line: I always knew %the earth loved us Last Line: Its dark body, longing %to let us in MEDITATION BY THE STOVE First Line: In have banked the fires Last Line: To warm their hands on for a while MEMORIAL GARDENS, QUEENS Poem Text First Line: In this tenement Subject(s): Cemeteries; Graveyards MERCY First Line: Perhaps our aging eyesight fails Last Line: Which saw nothing dangerous ahead MIGRAINE Poem Text First Line: Ambushed by / pins and needles Subject(s): Headaches MIGRAINE First Line: Ambushed by %pins and needles Last Line: Or the cotton wool %of the perfected dark MISREADING HOUSMAN Poem Text First Line: On this first day of spring, snow Subject(s): Housman, Alfred Edward (1859-1936) MISREADING HOUSMAN First Line: On this first day of spring, snow Last Line: Whispering: relax, there is nothing %you can possibly do about any of this Subject(s): Housman, Alfred Edward (1859-1936) MONTHS First Line: Contorted by wind Last Line: Turns towards %the solstice Subject(s): Nature; Seasons; Time MOSAIC Poem Text First Line: On this tile Subject(s): Jews; Travel; Judaism; Journeys; Trips MOSAIC 1. THE SACRIFICE First Line: On the tile %the knife Last Line: His two feet heavy %as stones MOSAIC 2. NEAR SINAI First Line: God's hand here Last Line: Of the desert, by wind %in the bulrushes MOSAIC 3. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT First Line: We know by the halos Last Line: Into the lightning %of the new MOSAIC 4. AT THE ARMENIAN TILE SHOP First Line: Under the bright glazes Last Line: There is just one %blessing MOTHER EVE First Line: Of course she never was a child herself Last Line: (and benjamin so young) %that is the punishment MUSE Poem Text First Line: No angel speaks to me Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality; Theology MUSE First Line: No angel speaks to me Last Line: Of space, angels could be hiding Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality MY ACHILLES SON Poem Text Subject(s): Mothers & Sons MYTH OF PERFECTABILITY First Line: I hang the still life of flowers Last Line: Season after season, even in his sleep NAME First Line: David means beloved Last Line: And if he calls me now %how will I know to answer? NARCISSUS AT 60 First Line: If love hadn't made him clumsy Last Line: Just beneath the lethal skin %of the water NATURE MORTE First Line: When the last wild asparagus Last Line: From the earth and destined %for the table NEAR THE SACRIFICAL SITE Poem Text First Line: On an afternoon like this Subject(s): Memory NEW POET First Line: Finding a new poet Last Line: Or a pen or even a paintbrush, %if only there had been a flower Subject(s): Poetry And Poets NEWBORN First Line: Even in sleep her face changes Last Line: That old thirst in the genes Subject(s): Birth NEWS OF THE WORLD First Line: Like weather, the news %is always changing and always Last Line: To note, if only %on the last page NIGHT FALLS ON NANTUCKET SOUND First Line: I have helped launch Last Line: Will welcome me %to the watery dark NIGHT SOUNDS First Line: When the clock %like a moon shows Last Line: For their lost %consonants NOCTURNAL Poem Text First Line: If animals think Subject(s): Animals; Death; Dead, The NOCTURNAL First Line: If animals think %about death Last Line: To smother me %in its nocturnal wings NOEL Poem Text First Line: Like a single / ornament, Subject(s): Cardinals (birds); Christmas; Nativity, The NOSTALGIA First Line: At the moment when memory dims Last Line: Over my broken sleep NOTES FOR AN ELEGY First Line: Because you died in autumn NOTES FROM THE DELIVERY ROOM Poem Text First Line: Strapped down, / victim in an old comic book, Subject(s): Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery NOTES FROM THE DELIVERY ROOM First Line: Strapped down, %victim in an old comic book Last Line: Just me, quite barefoot, %greeting my barefoot child NOTES TO MY MOTHER First Line: Your letters to me %are forwarded to my dreams Last Line: And treacheries to gather me %in its arms NOVEMBER First Line: It is an old drama Last Line: And bowing %all over again NOVEMBER POEM First Line: The november poem %has leaves falling Last Line: A bitter taste %of burning, %burning NOVEMBER RAIN Poem Text First Line: How separate we are Subject(s): Rain OBLIGATION TO BE HAPPY First Line: It is more onerous Last Line: Only midas himself %would understand OCTOBER CATECHISMS First Line: Pilgrim leaves %crowd the air Last Line: Sighing, eve %steps out of her skin OCTOBER FUNERAL First Line: The world is shedding Last Line: For the simple act of turning %and walking away ODE TO LYSENKO Poem Text First Line: Couldn't it be a just so story Subject(s): Genetics ODE TO LYSENKO First Line: Couldn't it be like a just so story Last Line: On darwin and his jabbering finches OLD PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM First Line: These pages, crumbling under my fingers Last Line: With ghosts in high starched collars and velvet hats OLD SONG First Line: How loyal our childhood demons are Last Line: We just don't love you anymore OLD WOMAN First Line: In the evening %my griefs come to me Last Line: From the bright throats of thrushes %in sing back ON HEARING THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE REVIVED AFTER CARDIAC ARREST Poem Text First Line: Wrenched back to life Subject(s): Heart Disease ON THE MARGINALITY OF POETS First Line: At the margin of the pond Last Line: Thigh and body join-- %a path to the cave where life begins;%a place to watch from ON THE QUESTION OF FREE WILL First Line: Sometimes, %noticing the skeleton Last Line: Had eve refused %the apple ON THE STEPS OF THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL Poem Text First Line: We invent our gods Subject(s): Mythology; Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826) ONLY CHILD First Line: Sist to no one ORDINARY WEATHER OF SUMMER First Line: In the ordinary weather of summer Last Line: Shaking the water out of our blinded eyes ORPHEUS Poem Text First Line: When orpheus turned Subject(s): Music & Musicians; Mythology - Classical; Orpheus ORPHEUS First Line: When orpheus turned Last Line: Making its own music Subject(s): Music And Musicians; Mythology - Classical; Orpheus OVERTURE Poem Text First Line: This is the way Subject(s): Music & Musicians OVERTURE First Line: This is the way it begins: the small Last Line: Lifts his wand, letting %the curtains part Subject(s): Music And Musicians PAIN Poem Text First Line: More faithful / than lover or husband Subject(s): Pain; Suffering; Misery PAIN First Line: More faithful %than lover or husband Last Line: You would not run after it PASS/FAIL Poem Text First Line: You will never graduate Subject(s): Education; Schools; Students PASS/FAIL First Line: You will never graduate Last Line: That have to be learned %by heart Subject(s): Education; Schools PASSOVER Poem Text First Line: I set my table with metaphor Subject(s): Passover PASSOVER First Line: I set my table with metaphor Last Line: Darkness of newsprint. %my son, my son Subject(s): Passover PEARS First Line: Some say %it was a pear eve ate Last Line: Lets go your pear-shaped breast %to reach for? PENELOPE Poem Text First Line: The sun is scarcely Subject(s): Penelope (mythology); Patience PENULTIMATE THINGS First Line: Wearing their formal clothes Last Line: And love turning its back on endings %one more time PM First Line: The child is unreconciled Last Line: The unnavigable dark POET First Line: At his right hand %silence Last Line: All the letter of the alphabet %to choose from POETRY READING Poem Text First Line: Your words are like the knife Subject(s): Poetry Readings POETRY READING First Line: Your words are like the knife Last Line: Before the alpha dog, trusting him %with my defenseless life POISON IVY Poem Text First Line: Even then the leaves shone Last Line: And innocent of harm as they were. Subject(s): Poison Ivy POPCORN First Line: When plato said %that what we see are shadows Last Line: Is the popcorn %jammed between our teeth POSSIBILITIES First Line: Today I drove past a house POSTCARD FROM CAPE COD First Line: Just now I saw Last Line: And on such %delicate %wings POSTERITY First Line: For every newborn child Last Line: Not even leaves can stay PRACTICING Poem Text First Line: My son is practicing the piano. Subject(s): Family Life; Conduct Of Life; Relatives PRACTICING First Line: My son is practicing the piano Last Line: And sons of his own, to want to make PRINCE CAMILLE DE ROHAN First Line: Sunned and pruned PRINTER First Line: Baskerville, perpetua, garamond Last Line: On heaviest mohawk superfine Subject(s): Printing And Printers; Typesetting PROCLAMATION AT A BIRTH Poem Text First Line: Let every tree Subject(s): Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery PROCLAMATION AT A BIRTH First Line: Let every tree %burst into blossom Last Line: Let the musical croakings %begin PROLOGUE First Line: Nothing has happened yet Last Line: Into the darkness %of the first chapter PROSODY 101 First Line: When they taught me that what mattered most Last Line: And I thought: so this is poetry PYTHON AT THE CHILDREN'S ZOO First Line: The children holding the python Last Line: Its hunger takes it RACHEL (RACHEL [RA'CHAL,] A EWE) Poem Text First Line: We named you Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews; Shoah; Judaism RACHEL (RACHEL [RA'CHAL,] A EWE) First Line: We named you Last Line: Known as %rachel Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews RAINY COUNTRY First Line: The headlines and feature stories alike Last Line: Bacon grease, rattle of dishes and bones REAL STORY First Line: Sucking on hard candy Last Line: Enough chickens %tell us a real story Subject(s): Family Life REALMS OF GOLD: 1. RECESS First Line: I used to think Last Line: Those children ran with me REALMS OF GOLD: 2. THE QUARREL First Line: What are you doing Last Line: And anna has just %entered the station REALMS OF GOLD: 3. FINAL INSTRUCTIONS First Line: When the time comes Last Line: At home there. %read to me! RECOVERY ZONE First Line: If I could befriend this pain Last Line: With love's bloody stigmata RED FOX First Line: The quick red fox trots so casually Last Line: On our suburban snow %and disappear REMEMBERING FROST AT KENNEDY’S INAUGURATION Poem Text First Line: Even the flags seemed frozen Subject(s): Frost, Robert (1874-1963); Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963) REMISSION First Line: It seems you must grow Last Line: You steal on tiptoe %past the closet door REQUIEM Poem Text First Line: Last year an army Subject(s): Trees; Caterpillars REQUIEM First Line: Last year an army Last Line: As girl gymnasts on the grass, %here at the edge of winter REREADING FROST Poem Text First Line: Sometimes I think all the best poems Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Frost, Robert (1874-1963) REREADING THE ODYSSEY IN MIDDLE AGE First Line: Why was she weaving a shroud for laertes Last Line: Be winding sheet enough for him? RESPONSE First Line: It is not dusk / in jerusalem Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish - Aftermath; Jews; Judaism RESPONSE First Line: It is not dusk %in jerusalem Last Line: Have long since burned down %to stubs Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish - Aftermath; Jews ROOT CANAL Poem Text First Line: Under the anesthetic Subject(s): Dentists ROOT CANAL First Line: Under the anesthetic ROOT PRUNING First Line: Years before you moved ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH First Line: Monday %washing %washday. Hum Last Line: Years ago, under %the mullberry bush ROUTINE MAMMOGRAM First Line: We are looking for a worm Last Line: To the apple %its spiraled skin RSVP REGRETS ONLY First Line: I regret that I can't come Last Line: Since the day I met you, %I regret everything SACRED TO APOLLO First Line: Sometimes I am daphne Last Line: I am helen again %and dangerous SAFECRACKER First Line: On nights when the moon seems impenetrable Last Line: Whose own egyptians first invented the lock SCULPTURE GARDEN First Line: Between a bronze turtle Last Line: The stone wings of a bird %ready to fly SECRETS First Line: The secrets I keep Last Line: Never tell %never tell SELF-PORTRAIT First Line: I am child to no one, mother to a few Last Line: Even after they have left their bodies SEPTEMBER Poem Text First Line: It rained in my sleep / and in the morning the fields were wet Subject(s): Poetry & Poets SEPTEMBER First Line: It rained in my sleep %and in the morning the fields were wet Last Line: I went to sleep in summer %I dreamed of rain %in the morning the fields were wet %and it was autumn Subject(s): Poetry And Poets SESTINA AT 3 A.M. Poem Text First Line: In the imperfect dark Subject(s): Night; Insomnia; Longing; Bedtime; Sleeplessness SESTINA AT 3 A.M. First Line: In the imperfect dark Last Line: Long and under and wind %and under ... Your face ... The stars ... The dark SEVEN DEADLY SINS First Line: They say that midas SHADBLOW First Line: Because the stand %are swimming %in our waters now Last Line: Flags surrendering %to the season SHADOWS First Line: Each night this house sinks into the shadows Last Line: In front of them, behind them, only shadows SHORT HISTORY OF JUDAIC THOUGHT IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY First Line: The rabbis wrote Last Line: But aren't all our houses %burning? Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality SHORT STORY Poem Text First Line: In the short story Subject(s): Short Stories SILENT TREATMENT First Line: On still nights, I think Last Line: Punished me again %with silence SIRENS First Line: Is there no music now Last Line: Stray toward the sea SKYLIGHT First Line: I sit in a perfect circle of sun Last Line: Held up to the sun by its heels and moving -- %it is like candling eggs SMOKE SCREEN First Line: I love the many dialects of smoke Last Line: Our days, our nights going slowly %up in smoke SNOW SHOWERS, A PROTHALAMION Poem Text First Line: You are teaching my daughter the language Subject(s): Sky SNOW SHOWERS, A PROTHALAMION First Line: You are teaching my daughter the language Last Line: Of opposites, like mine has been. %come spring, like yours SNOWING: A TRIPTYCH First Line: It is snowing Last Line: With white %jade SNOWSTORM First Line: Just watching is enough Last Line: Of a cold knowledge %I hardly understand SOMETHING ABOUT THE TREES First Line: I remember what my father told me Last Line: He was just past fifty then SOMETIMES First Line: From the periphery Last Line: With this real hand %I wave goodbye SOMETIMES IN WINTER Poem Text First Line: When I look into Subject(s): Envy; Conduct Of Life SOMETIMES IN WINTER First Line: When in look into %the fragile faces Last Line: The medium of the cold %to dance in SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD Poem Text Subject(s): Conduct Of Life; Hope; Luck; Optimism SONORAN DESERT, JANUARY First Line: In this unfinished landscape STATIONARY BICYCLE First Line: You pedal furiously Last Line: You're here right now, alive STILL LIFE First Line: Still life the artist called Last Line: Without the actual taste %of pear on the tongue SUBWAY Poem Text First Line: Sometimes at night Subject(s): Subways SUBWAY First Line: Sometimes at night %I put myself Last Line: Underground, %already asleep SUFFOCATION Poem Text First Line: In chekhov's three sisters, everyone Subject(s): Boredom; Ennui SUFFOCATION First Line: In chekhov's three sisters, everyone Last Line: Hidden in a coat, in steerage, and at great risk Subject(s): Boredom SURVIVORS First Line: All savor gone SYMPOSIUM: APPLES First Line: Eve remember a season Last Line: From a single %bite TEARS First Line: When the ophthalmologist told me gravely Last Line: Dip their wings in tears, and skim away THE ALMANAC OF LAST THINGS Poem Text First Line: From the almanac of last things THE ANIMALS Poem Text First Line: When I see a suckling pig turn Subject(s): Animals THE ANSWERING MACHINE Poem Text First Line: I call and hear your voice Subject(s): Telephones THE APPLE SHRINE Poem Text First Line: Last week you gathered armfuls of apple blossoms Subject(s): Religion; Spirituality; Theology THE BIRDS Poem Text First Line: Are heading south, pulled Subject(s): Nature THE BOOK Poem Text First Line: In the book of shadows Subject(s): Books; Death; Reading; Dead, The THE COMING ON OF NIGHT Poem Text First Line: When ambition, like a faulty Subject(s): Ambition THE COSSACKS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: For jews, the cossacks are always coming. Subject(s): Paranoia; Jews; Conduct Of Life; Judaism THE DEATH OF THE SELF Poem Text First Line: Like discarded pages Subject(s): Self THE DEATHWATCH BEETLE Poem Text First Line: A cardinal hurls itself Subject(s): Death; Beetles; Dead, The THE DOGWOODS Poem Text First Line: I remember, in the week Subject(s): Dogwood; Beauty THE HAPPIEST DAY Poem Text First Line: It was early may, I think Subject(s): Family Life; Happiness; Relatives; Joy; Delight THE HAT LADY Poem Text First Line: In a childhood of hats Subject(s): Hats THE IMPERFECT PARADISE Poem Text First Line: Which season is the loveliest of all? Subject(s): Seasons; Gardens & Gardening; Squirrels; Nature THE LAST TRAIN Poem Text First Line: There may have been a boy Subject(s): Railroads; Railways; Trains THE LAST UNCLE Poem Text First Line: The last uncle is pushing off Subject(s): Uncles; Death; Dead, The THE LOST KINGDOM Poem Text First Line: I remember the castle Subject(s): Memory THE LUMBERJACKS Poem Text First Line: They entered eden Subject(s): Eden; Deforestation THE MONTHS Poem Text First Line: Contorted by wind Subject(s): Nature; Seasons; Time THE MYTH OF PERFECTABILITY Poem Text First Line: I hand the still life of flowers Subject(s): Paintings & Painters THE NEWBORN Poem Text First Line: Even in sleep her face changes Subject(s): Birth; Child Birth; Midwifery THE OBLIGATION TO BE HAPPY Poem Text First Line: It is more onerous Subject(s): Happiness; Joy; Delight THE ORDINARY WEATHER OF SUMMER Poem Text First Line: In the ordinary weather of summer Subject(s): Summer THE PRINTER Poem Text First Line: Baskerville, perpetua, garamond Subject(s): Printing And Printers; Typesetting THE QUARREL Poem Text First Line: If there were a monument Subject(s): Silence; Quarrels; Arguments; Disagreements THE SAFECRACKER Poem Text Subject(s): Love - Erotic THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS Poem Text First Line: They say that midas Subject(s): Gluttony; Pride; Envy; Greed; Lust; Anger;sloth; Self-esteem; Self-respect; Avarice; Cupidity THE SONORAN DESERT, JANUARY Poem Text First Line: In this unfinished landscape Subject(s): Deserts THE WAY THE LEAVES KEEP FALLING Poem Text First Line: It is november Subject(s): Leaves; Autumn; Fall THERE ARE POEMS Poem Text Subject(s): Poetry & Poets THERE ARE POEMS Last Line: Of insight, without cloud %or comfort THERE IS A FIGURE IN EVERY LANDSCAPE Last Line: Newness of unused shade, distrusting %privacy, god placed a sleeping woman THINGS I DIDN'T KNOW I LOVED: AFTER NAZIM HIKMET Poem Text First Line: I always knew I loved the sky, Subject(s): Nature THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 1. RUMPELSTILTSKIN First Line: He was my darling muse Last Line: I'd give him anything THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 2. SNOW WHITE First Line: During rem sleep, my eyelids Last Line: To leave me alone %in my long, glass study THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 3. THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA First Line: It isn't the insistent %moon, glazing Last Line: Prodding me through %all seven mattresses THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 4. THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER First Line: They say imagination festers Last Line: They couldn't have done %without me THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 5. GRETEL Poem Text First Line: I am leaving a trail of poems Subject(s): Fairy Tales THIS ENCHANTED FOREST: 5. GRETEL First Line: I am leaving a trail of poems Last Line: All I can try to do %is set it to music Subject(s): Fairy Tales THREADS TO BE WOVEN LATER First Line: My grandmother's grave %like a loaf Last Line: The rising %of bread THREE PERFECT DAYS Poem Text First Line: In the middle seat of an airplane, Subject(s): Air Travel; Wishes THRESHOLD First Line: There is a hesitation %between seasons Last Line: And shakes itself %and the next thing happens TO A DAUGHTER LEAVING HOME Poem Text Recitation First Line: When I taught you / at eight to ride Subject(s): Growth; Home; Mothers; Women TO A DAUGHTER LEAVING HOME First Line: When I taught you %at eight to ride Last Line: Handkerchief waving %goodbye Subject(s): Growth; Home; Mothers; Women TO A HUSBAND ON FATHER'S DAY First Line: If you had been my dad I'm sure Last Line: But oh, my love, I'd be incestuous TO A LOVER NOT TAKEN First Line: You are the part TO A POET, RECENTLY SILENT First Line: Have you run out %of words? Last Line: Until they shine like fish scales TO A SECOND SON First Line: Now you embrace chameleons Last Line: Shaking all of us delicately off TO CONSIDER A HOUSE First Line: When eden closed like a fist Last Line: They thought to plant %another garden TO MY IMAGINARY SIBLINGS Poem Text First Line: Dear brother and sister Subject(s): Brothers & Sisters; Imagination; Fancy TO MY IMAGINARY SIBLINGS First Line: Dear brother and sister, %you who helped me survive Last Line: Family, you are simply two more ghosts? TO THE FIELD GOAL KICKER IN A SLUMP Poem Text First Line: It must be something Subject(s): Sports TO THE FIELD GOAL KICKER IN A SLUMP First Line: It must be something Subject(s): Sports TOPIARY GARDENS First Line: Was daphne the first, twisting Last Line: To cover the hunched shoulders %of the gravestones %with a shawl of leaves TRAVELING LIGHT Poem Text First Line: I'm only leaving you Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips TRAVELOGUE First Line: I always take a book along Last Line: I could be anywhere TURNABOUT First Line: The old dog used to herd me through the street UNVEILING Poem Text First Line: In the cemetery Subject(s): Cemeteries; Ancestors & Ancestry; Graveyards; Heritage; Heredity UNVEILING First Line: In the cemetery Last Line: I'm not quite ready yet %to learn VERMILION First Line: Pierre bonnard would enter Last Line: The purest form of love VERTICAL Poem Text First Line: Perhaps the purpose Subject(s): Trees VOICES First Line: Joan heard voices Last Line: One way or another %you burn for it WAITING FOR E. GULARIS First Line: Exile %by accident WAITING FOR MY LIFE First Line: I waited for my life to start Last Line: In my notebook, where someday I would go %prospecting for my life WAITING ROOM Poem Text First Line: On line once, waiting Subject(s): Waiting WAITING ROOM First Line: On line once, waiting WAKU Poem Text First Line: Floating down the stream Subject(s): Poetry & Poets WAKU First Line: Floating down the stream WALK BEFORE BREAKFAST First Line: Isn't this what life %could be: a walk Last Line: But the discarded carapace %of our other life? WARM FRONT First Line: The plum tree WATER WHEEL First Line: Afraid of sleep Last Line: For one more icy sip %of water WAY THE LEAVES KEEP FALLING First Line: It is november %and morning - time to get to work Last Line: All morning watching the leaves WAY THINGS ARE First Line: In the last years of the dogwood Last Line: Which is no color %and every color WEATHER Poem Text First Line: Because of the menace WEATHER First Line: Because of the menace Last Line: After such a winter WEATHER FORECAST First Line: Somewhere it is about to snow Last Line: Against the bottom of a shoe %is our only prayer WHAT WE FEAR MOST First Line: We have been saved one more time Last Line: On an ordinary day, %unlike any other WHAT WE LOOK AT LAST First Line: What if it's true WHAT WE WANT Poem Text WHAT WE WANT Last Line: As the stars are there %even in full sun WHEREVER WE TRAVEL Poem Text Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips WHITE Poem Text First Line: In the bright spectrum of years Subject(s): White (color); Likes & Dislikes WHITE First Line: In the bright spectrum of years Last Line: And always, always the bare page demanding its poem WHO IS IT ACCUSES US? First Line: Who is it accuses us of safety Last Line: They will poison your secret wells %with longing WHOM DO YOU VISUALIZE AS YOUR READER? Poem Text First Line: The humanities 5 section man Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips WHOM DO YOU VISUALIZE AS YOUR READER? First Line: The humanities 5 section man Subject(s): Travel WHY ARE YOUR POEMS SO DARK? Poem Text First Line: Isn't the moon dark too, / most of the time? Subject(s): Grief; Poetry & Poets; Sorrow; Sadness WHY ARE YOUR POEMS SO DARK? First Line: Isn't the moon dark too, %most of the time? Last Line: Ask what it has witnessed Subject(s): Grief; Poetry And Poets WHY NOT? First Line: Why not try again, although the past Last Line: They say about loving, about riding %a bicycle: you never forget how WIDOW'S WALK, SOMEWHERE INLAND Poem Text First Line: This landlocked house should grace a harbor Subject(s): Fanily Life WILDFLOWERS Poem Text First Line: You gave me dandelions Subject(s): Love WILDFLOWERS First Line: You gave me dandelions Last Line: For their fierce, %unruly joy Subject(s): Love WIND CHILL Poem Text First Line: The door of winter Subject(s): Winter WIND CHILL First Line: The door of winter %is frozen shut Last Line: To the small leaves clicking %in their coffins of ice WISTERIA FLORIBUNDA Poem Text First Line: Half drunk / on the heavy scent WISTERIA FLORIBUNDA First Line: Half drunk Last Line: And beaded %curtains, %to the electric thrum %of bees WITH THE PASSING OF THE LEAVES First Line: The masks are dropping Last Line: Through the marauding %winter WOMAN HOLDING A BALANCE First Line: The picture within Last Line: Of a dress, a jewelry box %with perfect justice WRITER AT 16 First Line: He thinks of himself always WRITING WHILE MY FATHER DIES First Line: There is not a poem in sight Last Line: And shivering I rub these words %together, hoping for a spark YOM KIPPUR Poem Text First Line: A tree beside the synagogue atones Subject(s): Fasts & Feasts; Jews; Yom Kippur; Judaism YOM KIPPUR First Line: A tree beside the synagogue atones Last Line: And leaves return to willing trees for spring Subject(s): Fasts And Feasts; Jews; Yom Kippur YOU ARE ODYSSEUS First Line: You are odysseus Last Line: Only my weaving is real |
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