|
|
|
|
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: WAKOSKI, DIANE Matches Found: 570 Wakoski, Diane Poet's Biography 570 poems available by this author 3 OF SWORDS First Line: Yes %of old wire hangers that remain in the closet 40 DEGREES First Line: Agatha, the long-haired calico Last Line: Only %out of time 5 OF STAVES (WANDS): YOUNG MEN FIGHTING OR PLAYING First Line: The secret %has always been Last Line: A child to replace the mother A POET RECOGNIZING THE ECHO OF THE VOICE Poem Text First Line: We are burning Subject(s): Absence; Beauty; Identity; Sexism; Women; Women's Rights; Separation; Isolation; Feminism AFTER EDWARD HOPPER'S MARBLETOP TABLE: A SESTINA FOR ANNE WALDMAN First Line: I was surprised to see you, anne waldman Last Line: Today you too lit my edward-hopper-diner-painted midwestern night AFTER MOVING THE PLANTS TO SATURN First Line: Under my newly emerged gloxinia AGING First Line: Yes, you could put my entire brain Last Line: When you blew through its trumpet cup AGING IN DUBROVNIK First Line: Some grow grizzled ALEXANDER First Line: When she smooths me and smooths me, as I lie Last Line: Between what I think %and what I can do ALL THE PAPERWEIGHTS I'VE NEVER BOUGHT FROM YOU First Line: The best one AMARYLLIS First Line: So seldom Last Line: The window, on a snowy winter %night AMARYLLIS ON THAMES First Line: I called alice, but she was Last Line: Town this could be, and it isn't la! AN APOLOGY Poem Text First Line: Past exchanges have left orbits of rain around my face Subject(s): Women's Rights; Feminism ANGEL WIRE OR RECEIVING A SURPRISE RESURRECTION TELEGRAM First Line: You don't expect either %taxis or telegrams, but Last Line: On diane's doorstep today. %glory, glory ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD First Line: To you who loved the mysterious reference to 'anna' Last Line: Formulated into %humming %wings APOLOGY First Line: Past exchanges have left orbits of rain around my face Last Line: Silently riding their zebras Subject(s): Women's Rights APPARITIONS ARE NOT SINGULAR OCCURENCES First Line: When I rode the zebra past your door APPARITIONS ARE NOT SINGULAR OCCURRENCES Poem Text First Line: When I rode the zebra past your door Subject(s): Death; Man-woman Relationships; Dead, The; Male-female Relations APRICOT POEM First Line: Mother sits on a painted white chair in the kitchen Last Line: They throw apricots for balls ARCHEOLOGY OF MOVIES AND BOOKS First Line: Chinatown is an oedipal dissertation Last Line: Change his life from desert %to water ARGONAUT ROSE: AMARYLLIS BELLADONNA First Line: What is the history Last Line: Offered up as some one's flaming argonaut rose ASIAN GAY DISCO IN LA First Line: He sits there with his pad of paper Last Line: Is this a buddha lesson he doesn't think I've already learned Subject(s): Homosexuality AUTUMN First Line: Eating lunch %at the roadside rest stop Last Line: Leaves so much lighter %than money BAD GIRL First Line: She was a good Last Line: By where she goes? BARN First Line: She hides her american eyes Last Line: Light up %silver spaces BEAUTY First Line: I never thought of him as beautiful Last Line: That I had never seen it before BEAUTY AND THE BEAST First Line: La belle, la belle, I remember him Last Line: It is beauty we must search for so desperately BEAUTY OF UN-USED THINGS First Line: There is a woman Last Line: Who is the lady in the garden, and where is she leading us %now BELLY DANCER Poem Text First Line: Can these movements which move themselves Subject(s): Clothing & Dress; Dancing & Dancers; Desire; Women BELLY DANCER First Line: Can these movements which move themselves Last Line: Unawakened, sweet %women Subject(s): Clothing And Dress; Dancing And Dancers; Desire; Women BIRDS OF PARADISE BEING VERY PLAIN BIRDS First Line: What do they look like,' he said BLACKJACK SESTINA Poem Text First Line: Twenty stories high above the desert Subject(s): Cards Games; Gambling; Wagering; Betting BLACKJACK SESTINA First Line: Twenty stories high above the desert Last Line: Of summer morning blackjack players, these old desert %sunflowers BLESSING ODE FOR A MAN WITH FISHBONES AROUND HIS NECK First Line: Armillaria mellea BLOSSOMS First Line: Look different BLUE DRESS/AIRMAIL LETTER First Line: The old movie star swathed in chiffon, blue as an airmail Last Line: So much the false grief in a little step. %the unmailed letter BLUE ICE WOLF Poem Text First Line: Like a paper with a bent corner, haphazardly Subject(s): Hospitals; Wolves; Dogs; Supernatural BLUE JAY AT THE NEARLY EMPTY FEEDER First Line: There is a boy who is a blue jay of a boy Last Line: All the beauty I can bear BLUE MONDAY Poem Text First Line: Blue of the heaps of beads poured into her breasts Subject(s): Blue (color) BLUE MONDAY First Line: Blue of the heaps of beads poured into her breasts Last Line: It is blue %it is blue %it is blue Subject(s): Blue (color) BLUE NAILS First Line: Hands as little as the leaves of the sapling honey locust tree Last Line: Blue? Broken eggshell %blue? BLUE SUEDE SHOES First Line: The blond whose skin was translucent as a glass slipper Last Line: Both of us dancing, bare footed, just dancing, %red glass and blue suede shoes, %to survive our sham BOTTICELLI'S EDGES First Line: Judith and I in the back seat: I Last Line: Reborn in somebody %else's harris tweed jacket BOTTICELLI'S EDGES First Line: My face, that I think of as sharp, hard edged Last Line: An earth goddess wearing her shimmering earthquake blouse %over feathers and claws BOWL OF APPLES First Line: I grew up where soft fruits, juicy and sparkling BRAISED LEEKS & FRAMBOISE First Line: The ocean %this morning Last Line: The pebbled surface %of a raspberry BREAKFAST First Line: In the spanish kingdom %of my living room Last Line: My perfect view of the autumn swamp BREAKFAST AT GEORGE & MOLLY WICKES' First Line: The checked cloth, %the muffins Last Line: With breakfast at your satisfying table BROKEN ICE First Line: You think about the raped girl Last Line: I will believe BUDDHA INHERITS 6 CARS ON HIS BIRTHDAY First Line: I believe it was out of the red one the george washington BUTCHER'S APRON First Line: Red stains on the clean white bib Last Line: Of childhood. Unhealed scars, %still capable of bleeding BUTTERFLIES ARE SHADOW SHAPES First Line: The stars are flying %like butterflies Last Line: Monarchs, and cabbage butterflies CALIFORNIA GIRL First Line: If I had the ankles of belma baskett Last Line: You cannot escape %your destiny CALIFORNIAN FIGHTS AGAINST THE OLD NEW ENGLAND TRADITIONS First Line: The elderly famous man goes shopping with Last Line: With the space of the desert, %big, like I want to be CALIFORNIANS First Line: A grey striped cat came to our glass door yesterday Last Line: His coat would not be so soft %if he had spent it entirely %napping by the fire CANNON BEACH First Line: One week of early morning sunshine, like a perfect rose frozen CARDINAL AT THE FEEDER First Line: You must have waited for this grey and wet Last Line: Accessory to your %plumage CARLA BOUCHER EATS POPPIES IN SANTA FE First Line: We are driving the highway as straight as my polish hair Last Line: See me also, emptied of all but this bony poetry CELLOPHANE BURN First Line: In the orange grove where I watched spiders Last Line: Replacing or changing sound into light CHALKBOARD First Line: It's as if it were a map Last Line: Bringing light from a million years ago CHAMPAGNE First Line: In the velvet light of max's Last Line: Cannot alter %the truth CHAMPAGNE LIGHT First Line: Morning sunshine is like champagne Last Line: Or heavy day. And you might be made of moon rocks %instead of moonlight CHILD, A WASP, AND AN APRICOT TREE First Line: What is there we do not know about death CITY OF LIGHTS (LAS VEGAS) First Line: Sitting at the blackjack table, I wear my denim jacket Last Line: To bet any more CIVILIZATION First Line: I admire all the brave and robust people who live on shoestrings CLEARING THE PALETTE First Line: Ice %sorbet CLINT'S BOTTLE OF 1977 CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE First Line: Robert bought a finch feeder & Last Line: And drank %the cndp CLOAK OF FOLDED WINGS First Line: I wondered %when she told me how she Last Line: As a cloak of folded wings CLOSET OAKS First Line: There is a door which I have Last Line: Yes, he might be %on the other side %of the door CLOVE SHOES First Line: His mouth with the fragrance of Last Line: Kettle of mulled wine COBRA LILIES IN THE SUPERMARKET First Line: I wonder COFFEE BRUSH First Line: We sniffed it Last Line: And browsing in our winter absence COFFEE DRINKER (1) First Line: When I was as new feeling as salamander skin Last Line: Might revive you in an afternoon of rejections or failures COFFEE DRINKER (2) First Line: When I was as new feeling as salamander skin Last Line: I have wasted my life COILING LIGHT First Line: 1953, I suppose Last Line: In its diamondback heat COINS AND COFFINS UNDER MY BED Poem Text First Line: Three children dancing around an orange tree Last Line: And the sun catching it, as it swings Subject(s): Death; Dead, The COINS AND COFFINS UNDER MY BED First Line: Three children dancing around an orange tree Last Line: And the sun catching it, as he swings Subject(s): Death CONTROL IS ABOUT POSSESSION First Line: If anyone %had ever Last Line: Looked at me %that way CORN LYRICS First Line: In la habra Last Line: Wrapping you in light COSTA RICAN COFFEE First Line: I scissor open the brown and white pack Last Line: Smell and taste its %topaz mouth CRAIG'S CALIFORNIA FIRE First Line: The canyons where your bad luck comes from, craig Last Line: That blew around my orange county past CRAIG'S HUMMINGBIRDS First Line: They move so fast, their motion is invisible Last Line: Moves so fast it might be invisible CRAIG'S MUSE: WEARING THE GREEN First Line: Craig, those california hills which sometimes Last Line: Sometimes she rides clear across the country, %like an orange poppy, on the hood of the car CREME BRULEE First Line: Her voice is like good custard, creme brulle perhaps, and she Last Line: Way this woman's voice burned through to my past? CROCUS First Line: Persephone is a girl I know Last Line: Hummingbird shoes %of light %of light %of light CROCUS First Line: On the oak table DANAE Poem Text First Line: It was a shower of g(rain) Subject(s): Danae; Mythology - Classical DANAE First Line: It was a shower of g(rain) Subject(s): Danae; Mythology - Classical DANCING ON THE GRAVE OF A SON OF A BITCH Poem Text First Line: God damn it, / at last I am going to dance on your grave, Subject(s): Man-woman Relationship; Divorce; Farewell; Money; Dancing & Dancers; Graves; Parting; Tombs; Tombstones DANCING ON THE GRAVE OF A SON OF A BITCH First Line: God damn it DANGEROUS HERMIT First Line: She's not crazy, just doesn't like Last Line: That's why she's dangerous DARK PROCESSION REVIEWED First Line: My body glistens, %snail moon Last Line: From the golden lover hidden behind %sea-grey eyes? DAVID & GEOFFREY First Line: The man who's dead Last Line: Un-understandably %needs me %no more DAVID'S LETTER First Line: Your life was like snow Last Line: What we want and never give up something invisible %for something tangible DAWN BUDS First Line: How could her paintings Last Line: Of cartilage, the desert itself a drawerful %of silky bones DEER GODS First Line: Driving past the thick forested land Last Line: Like a flower against the bank of a river DEER IN ME First Line: When you couldn't dance any more Last Line: Beautiful, deadly silver drop DESERT EYES First Line: Though I often go to the desert Last Line: To keep him safe for his manly life DIANE'S PERSONAL GHOST RANCH Poem Text First Line: I imagine riding a ghost-stallion, my Subject(s): Ghosts; O'keeffe, Georgia (1887-1986); Moore, Marianne (1887-1972); Ranch Life DIANES First Line: Spelled variously, the name Last Line: On the plastic tag around baby's wrist DIET MOONS First Line: Roll into her car Last Line: No salt allowed. %or butter DIFFERENT EDGE First Line: What you wanted to Last Line: Complete yet not final DOGS (1) First Line: Are a human %mistake Last Line: Brains are not %everything DOGS (2) First Line: Like a children's book illustrator's large Last Line: Children or old men and women %listening to stories DRIVING BARBARA'S SHORE First Line: First, there's the slight tinge Last Line: The day might never end DRIVING GLOVES First Line: I wish my past had been DUCHESS POTATOES First Line: My people grew potatoes Last Line: They were called 'duchess' Subject(s): Food Habits; Potatoes EATING A PLUM ON THE TERRACE First Line: This plum is something I never tasted when I was pregnant Last Line: More complete than sex %in the moist dark EATING FLOWERS First Line: I know that if you put your pencil Last Line: That you will not get wet EATING GRAPES WITH THE ALGEBRAIST First Line: O weren't they equations?/ my Last Line: And autumn's peace was untampered EGGS First Line: The perfect food,' says Last Line: Beginning %in her grain-y %elevated eggs EL CAMINO REAL (THE KING'S HIGHWAY) First Line: We transform the places we live Last Line: Radiant with earthy %big-seeded light ELEPHANT & THE BUTTERFLY MEET First Line: As the blue wings ELIZABETH AND THE GOLDEN ORANGES First Line: In packing boxes of spiders and amber EMERALD BOOK First Line: First it was a ring Last Line: At the end of the world.' EMERALD CITY First Line: This is the green place Last Line: What you don't know about me %would fill a book EMERALD ICE Poem Text First Line: If I were a jeweler Subject(s): Beauty; Emeralds; Mad Houses; Insane Asylums EMERALD ICE First Line: If I were a jeweler EMERALD TATTOOED ON MY ARM First Line: Tattoos are taboo %in the bourgeois white world Last Line: Always a little taboo %on a white arm Subject(s): Tattoos EMERALDS First Line: He said he dreamed Last Line: It was winter during my entire dream ESCORTS First Line: When the actresses, like glove-shaped velvety bats trapped Last Line: In a room where we don't belong EVOLUTION OF MORNING First Line: The clean linen smell of the hot iron on cloth Last Line: Into believing there is no death EXAMINING MONEY First Line: The little darwin boy Last Line: With darwin-like curiosity EXORCISM First Line: Get out EYE-VOICE First Line: I hear it', he says Last Line: Oh, I don't work there any more.' EYES OF LAURA MARS: AN ORCHID MYTH First Line: What if by day I am orpheus Last Line: Came back as a woman FAILURES OF THE WORLD First Line: This body is first Last Line: If it is the truth, is one of those failures %of the world FALLING WOMAN LEAVING THE GARDEN First Line: She runs on a chain of cities, only to Last Line: Around her neck like a large bunch of silvered keys FAME First Line: It can't mean that much Last Line: And who did not FANNY'S COLD BLUE EYES First Line: I'd like to talk about you, fanny, as a jewel FATHER OF MY COUNTRY First Line: All fathers in western civilization must have FEAR OF FAT CHILDREN First Line: Age has blown me up like the wind spirit Last Line: The fat of wasted life FEAR OF WOMEN First Line: My mother's secret was small Last Line: And steal my baby breath away FEW SILVER SCALES First Line: The feeling comes FIFTEEN POEMS FOR A LUNAR ECLIPSE, SELS. FILLING THE BOXES OF JOSEPH CORNELL First Line: Aren't we nasty little people FINDING THE MOON (FLOWERS) First Line: This is my broken Last Line: The beginning and end of a rose-y tale %I could tell FISH STORY First Line: A fish as silver as the edge of dawn Last Line: Still dangling %out of my old lip FLAMING TRACK First Line: So I asked him why Last Line: Set those tracks on fire FLOWER MASKS First Line: Snapdragons %next to the parking lot Last Line: The reason you are leaving, %driving away FLOWER PARTS First Line: That's what they look like Last Line: The mouths of children just finishing an orange popsicle FOLLOW THAT STAGECOACH First Line: The sense of disguise is a %rattlesnake FOR A MAN WHO LEARNED TO SWIM WHEN HE WAS SIXTY First Line: To you, %the ocean was an old mother, saying Last Line: Silence %was your answer until one day %there was a different voice %when you walked into water FOR CATHERINE WHO SAYS SHE IS WUTHERING HEIGHTS First Line: Inside the tiny wooden building Last Line: Only to claim the power %of her old one FOR CLINT IN EAST LANSING WHILE I AM SITTING ON THE ADRIATIC COAST First Line: I bought figs every day almost Last Line: Of natural ingredients. %perhaps FOR LINDA'S MOTHER First Line: So you read a diane wakoski book Last Line: Dig their toes into the moving earth FOR THE GIRL WITH HER FACE IN A ROSE First Line: This tapestry which I've never seen FOR WHITMAN Poem Text First Line: I have observed the learned astronomer Last Line: The unnamed / the unnameable Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891) FOR WHITMAN First Line: I have observed the learned astronomer Last Line: Love being %the unnamed/ %the unnameable Subject(s): Poetry And Poets; Whitman, Walt (1819-1891) FOREIGN TRAVEL First Line: We were in the trendy clothing store where everything Last Line: All I would do is shop/I can do that in ann arbor, michigan FRIGHTENING GREEN First Line: It's not enough to know Last Line: For their lush, frightening, heavy green FROM A GIRL IN A MENTAL INSTITUTION First Line: The morning wakes me as a broken door vibrating on its hinges Last Line: The ocean is as still as a new made bed, rocking Subject(s): Psychiatric Hospitals FROM A GO TO BE, IF YOU CAN FIND IT First Line: I woke up FROM SHELLS TO RADISHES First Line: A blot of ink on the immaculate sleeve, like blood Last Line: Our only encounter in %twenty years FROM THE FATHER OF MY COUNTRY First Line: If george washington Last Line: Father, %have you really come home Subject(s): Fathers And Daughters FULL MOON EYES First Line: It isn't that I didn't want to like you Last Line: Themselves against the past-shadowed, still dark early %morning %sky GABRIELLA'S INFLUENCE ON OUR VISION OF PLATO'S CAVE First Line: When she rolls a cigarette, it is Last Line: From only the shadow? GARDENIAS First Line: Norman, this summer Last Line: Not just of holidays, %but for all seasons GEOFFREY BENDS TO TIE MY SHOE First Line: Voices are sometimes Last Line: The taste of coffee. %such unconnected %connections GEORGE WASHINGTON ABSENT FROM HIS COUNTRY First Line: Your heart %a sponge lying in the vinegar bowl GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE LOSS OF HIS TEETH Poem Text First Line: An ultimate / in the un-romantic Last Line: Got the teeth in your mouth Subject(s): Presidents, United States; Teeth; Washington, George (1732-1799); Toothaches GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE LOSS OF HIS TEETH First Line: An ultimate %in the un-romantic Last Line: Got the teeth in your mouth Subject(s): Presidents, United States; Teeth; Washington, George (1732-1799) GEORGE WASHINGTON AT SAM'S TOWN First Line: Our uncle sam is covered with orchids Last Line: Might place dice with the universed GEORGE WASHINGTON SENDS A PAIR OF SHOEBUCKLES First Line: Sages %walk GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE First Line: Scattered %in the barnyard GEORGE WASHINGTON WRITES HOME ABOUT HARVESTING First Line: I won't take a lot of shit GEORGE WASHINGTON'S AUTUMN First Line: Could he have seen flashes Last Line: Familiar behind hot paper cups of coffee and tea GEORGE WASHINGTON'S CAMP CUPS First Line: And that winter at valley forge GEORGE WASHINGTON: THE WHOLE MAN First Line: The disappointment I am talking of now GIRLS First Line: I never understood the girls Last Line: Afraid of snakes; who knows %that in this life %it is the one thing %not allowed GOOD WATER First Line: The cup holds GOOD WORLD First Line: In the good world GOURDS First Line: How do you GRAIN First Line: The midwest is a king-size package of cereal Last Line: Opening the new year's eve oysters GREED, PART 10: A NOTE First Line: I conceived of the poem as a long work, something like paterson, Last Line: Parts 1-13 not close its ranks, and that part 10 be left open GREED, PART 12: THE GREED TO BE FULFILLED First Line: There are about 200,000 known types Last Line: Perhaps is only heard through %the unspoken language of desert flowers GREED, PART 13: THE GREED FOR CONTROL OVER DEATH & LIFE First Line: Today, brilliant sunshine on the deep snow, and my desire to listen Last Line: In sleep from the demons %shaded from %false light GREED, PART 1: OF POLYGAMY First Line: This is %an invitation Last Line: Not a needy child any longer GREED, PART 2: OF ACCORD & PRINCIPLE First Line: The whole story Last Line: Not relinquishing one kiss GREED, PART 3: THE GREED THAT IS NOT GREED First Line: Rarely do I let myself Last Line: Takes greed beyond greed GREED, PART 4: INTRUDERS First Line: This child is born Last Line: Galapagos turtle %intruder. %you %landlord %of my heart GREED, PART 5: THE SHARK -- PARENTS & CHILDREN First Line: I can't swim Last Line: For another cold meal? GREED, PART 6: JEALOUSY -- A CONFESIONAL First Line: They are black %and they gleam like steinways Last Line: Of being deadly %or %dead GREED, PART 7: SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS First Line: Pride goeth before a fall Last Line: Why should we touch it? GREED, PART 8: THE DESIRE TO BE WHAT ONE IS NOT First Line: In the cover of his darkness Last Line: As we struggle with our own failures %and deceits GREED, PART 9: INTRODUCTION First Line: Living from day to day is a series of compromises Last Line: Water %is %life %in any %form GREED: 1. GLOVES OF FIRE: ALCHEMY First Line: Strindberg nearly burned %his hands off, in his attic room Last Line: To find beauty and teach those %spoilers %not to touch it? GREED: 10. DESERT CARP First Line: You're in new york alone, walking %as fast as you can from houston street where Last Line: Murmuring over the submerged %siren-fingered rhine gold GREED: 11. HONORING THE DISCOVERY OF ZERO First Line: When I sit at this table Last Line: But morning liberates me into the whisper of veracity GREED: 12. MORNING'S SCARF OF GOLD First Line: Silence & boiling water %mean that Last Line: Our bodies so close, our minds %so separate GREED: 13. THE MORNING OF THE ENCHANTRESS First Line: I too am a different self Last Line: Falling, %burning, %around her neck GREED: 2. THE MIDAS CHOCOLATE First Line: If she doesn't eat her chocolate Last Line: Where she spent every %silver coin GREED: 3. FINGER EARS First Line: By then she was addicted Last Line: With my ears, I finger its metal %every day GREED: 4. MEDEA'S SUMMER EYES First Line: And the enchantresses of %a certain race Last Line: Provided by destiny, %or is it chance? GREED: 5. GODDESS GOLD First Line: I need to hear %your stories Last Line: How can I, the silver sorceress, ask myself not %to speak out? GREED: 6. RAVEN OR SERPENT First Line: He opens the car door %and we walk to the picnic table Last Line: To throw the black cloak of winged night over my charge, %dulling it %to absence GREED: 7. NIGHTHAWK First Line: How I love the opening of Last Line: It intrudes through the dream window GREED: 8. POLISHING LIGHT First Line: Saving is renouncing %holding back is giving up Last Line: Outwit our passions? The absurdity %of polishing light GREED: 9. MEETING THE ICE QUEEN First Line: Is it presumption or courage that has made me Last Line: Out of the garden of poetry? GREED: REFRAIN First Line: Coffee on the wind, %light comes in Last Line: And he steals %my scarf of gold HALLOWEEN COSTUMES First Line: He does his best Last Line: Ride away naked forever %on her zebra HANDICAPPED AT RISEN HOTEL First Line: At first HANSEL AND GRETEL First Line: What would I do Last Line: Bad ones -- you know, %the opposite HAVING REPLACED LOVE WITH FOOD & DRINK First Line: Sweet basil, %sturdy as my legs, aromatic from donna's garden, its healthy Last Line: This pasta, green and garlicky %made with my own hands HE SAYS First Line: A young man tells me that the Last Line: While coolly, I always %bow %to irony HEALING GODDESSES First Line: Two barbaras on western shores heal me Last Line: And nautilus-chambered %secrets HELM'S BAKERY MAN First Line: The helm's man came in a yellow truck Last Line: In white icing decorating the top HELMETS OF BRONZE First Line: He doesn't know that the freeway he rode Last Line: Failed enough %to carry %weapons HERMIT First Line: With gravel glued together for arms and legs HIS BEDROOM VOICE First Line: He leaves a message on our answering machine Last Line: In timbre %than diction or content HITCHHIKERS First Line: They burn you Subject(s): Hitchhikers HOT FLICKERS/MOVIE LIGHT First Line: The highway along the coast Last Line: The line on the highway draws them %into the distance HOUSE OF CARDS First Line: The tall guy who wears the cowby hat Last Line: And often, as I have never had in poker %a royal flush HOW DO YOU TELL A STORY First Line: The mask stares down at me HUMAN HISTORY: ITS DOCUMENTS First Line: Sometimes poison %a decoration Last Line: To a large swarm of irritating flies HUMMINGBIRD LIGHT First Line: In the hummingbird house Last Line: Sleeping in hummingbird light HUMMINGBIRDS, DAZZLING IN FROM THE CALIFORNIA DESERT First Line: And the apple, like a ruby throat, was there Last Line: Love, love, why invent this word %if it is all zeros I COME TO THE POETRY READING WEARING MY NEW SILVER SHOES First Line: Listening has many foci: a sunburst locust tree loaded with %pods Last Line: Two stars have just dropped out of the new %evening sky I HAMMER First Line: At his indian-giving head Last Line: Silent as a piece of oak I HAVE HAD TO LEARN TO LIVE WITH MY FACE First Line: You see me alone tonight ICE First Line: It is the machines we strap on our bodies Last Line: Which no human eye witnesses ICE EAGLE First Line: It was with resolution that she gave up the Last Line: The ice eagle can do nothing %but melt Subject(s): Reality; Swanson, Gloria (1897-1983); Women ICE QUEEN'S CALLA LILY FINGERS First Line: Little girl, whose socks were always lost ICE WALKING First Line: When the candles are burning on the dining room table Last Line: That fly away once they are mistakenly %uncaged IMAGE IS NARRATIVE First Line: The lemons are for health and the sourness Last Line: And the empty, not even named , bitter %cup of coffee IMAGINING EMILY'S EARLY SUMMER GARDEN First Line: Scarlet poppies with theirs2911 page 175 Last Line: Shared the sacred nature of her task IMAGINING POINT DUME First Line: There are so many photographs of that curve of rocky beach Last Line: Composed of neon light IN RESPONSE TO GREY First Line: In fashion designer windows IN SAN FRANCISCO First Line: There is no hunger, though many Last Line: Pine cones and coffee IN ST. LOUIS First Line: The beautiful helen, whose foot was like Last Line: Certainly, no silver shoes to take us wherever we might %want to go IN THE SECRET ROOM, EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON First Line: I met a magician INCIDENT OF CHERRIES AND PEACHES First Line: When the difference is not a name INSIDE OUT Poem Text First Line: I walk the purple carpet into your eye Subject(s): Paintings & Painters; Relationships INSIDE OUT First Line: I walk the purple carpet into your eye Last Line: You must reach inside and pull me %like a silver bullet %from your arm IRELAND First Line: I asked %the kewpie-cheeked college boy Last Line: As invisible as poetry to change %the world JASON THE BETRAYER First Line: Withdrawing the wisteria Last Line: At the throat and cuff JEALOUS SLOTS & THE TREE OF LIFE First Line: Because she is from california Last Line: She still knows no reason %not to eat JEWEL LEAVES First Line: Why would she leave Last Line: The glasses all now empty JOURNEY First Line: Traveling for days to reach you Last Line: I must have dropped it when transfering Subject(s): Love JOYCE CAROL OATES PLAYS THE SATURN PIANO First Line: I promised myself JUNK JEWELRY Poem Text First Line: My husband buys me pearls Subject(s): Healing; Cures JUNK JEWELRY First Line: My husband buys me pearls Last Line: Our bond is ringless. %nothing can break Subject(s): Healing JUSTICE IS REASON ENOUGH Poem Text First Line: He, who was once my brother, is dead by his own hand Last Line: Reason enough for anything ugly. It balances the beauty in the air Subject(s): Brothers & Sisters; Suicide; Incest JUSTICE IS REASON ENOUGH First Line: He, who once was my brother, is dead by his own hand Last Line: Reason enough for anything ugly. It balances the beauty in the %world KELLY AS THE MAGE First Line: Remember when I came to brooklyn Last Line: Printed on their crumbling pages LADY IN THE GARDEN First Line: She holds her hawk Last Line: Not yet covered with the last shadow %of orchid light LADY WHO DROVE ME TO THE AIRPORT First Line: Big robert stands dusky, holding LAGUNA BEACH, RICH MAN'S TOWN First Line: A wave of feeling, deja vu Last Line: The town was named for LAST WORD ON SEX First Line: The movies must make you Last Line: Because she prefers night %to day LEAF ON THE OUTDOOR TABLE First Line: In september LESSONS OF SMOKED FISH, BEAR CLAWS & AMERICAN BARBECUE First Line: Robert's new grill is on the motor rotisserie Last Line: Of this universe %which cannot be sugar LETTER WITH THE RING OF TRUTH First Line: Dear clayton, %in bushel baskets, the yellow pears Last Line: No matter %how deeply %or diversely %our roots extend LIFE IS LIKE A GAME OF CARDS First Line: I said to alvin LIGHT First Line: I live for books Last Line: And light shines on us both, %the morning's breviary LIGHT CAP First Line: Remember the scene Last Line: Everything mirrored %in waterfalls, or an %ocean LIGHT POEM FOR THE LION PAINTER WHO BAKES SCONES IN MICHIGAN First Line: And with all of us sitting at a table thinking Last Line: And hank for giving us a light poem day LILY HANDS First Line: I know this girl must once Last Line: Now holding a replacement? %for beauty LION MIRROR First Line: Troubadours. %he is dark Last Line: Next to the watering hole LISTENING TO D. H. LAWRENCE'S PANSIES First Line: Wanting their eyes, their Last Line: Red hood on the atlantic shore LISTENING TO WHALES First Line: Like watching grey whales migrate LONG-STEMMED First Line: He said he could hear the flowers Last Line: Saying good-bye LOOKING FOR BEETHOVEN IN LAS VEGAS First Line: The music in my head again Last Line: The unspoken language of desert flowers LOTTO NIGHT First Line: On the ocean, I think Last Line: Standing watch outside this penniless house LOVCEN First Line: Climbing the stairs LOVE LETTER POSTMARKED VAN BEETHOVEN First Line: I am too angry to sleep beside you LOVE PASSES BEYOND THE INCREDIBLE HAWK OF INNOCENCE First Line: The stairs will never forget your footsteps LOVE TO MY ELECTRIC HANDMIXER First Line: My electric handmixer of 87 bloodstone finches Last Line: Names on the wings of gypsy moths for love LUNCH WITH MIRIAM & TOBY First Line: Bielo polje means %white field Last Line: The memories of our fathers LUXOR First Line: On the points of fire Last Line: Without burning myself MAGELLANIC CLOUDS First Line: The photographic plate is blurred MAKING A SACHER TORTE First Line: Her hands, like albino frogs, %on the keys of a bosendorfer Last Line: Reach this moment when I lift the firm almond torte %out of the oven MALACHITE First Line: Or marble, %polished like apples Last Line: This message trembles %like peonies in the rain MAN WHO SLURPS HIS DRINK First Line: Education %for the football player MAN WITH THE SHOE BUTTON EYES First Line: You remind me MAP OF MICHIGAN First Line: Is in the shape MAPLELIGHT First Line: He could recite the random number list Last Line: Yes, yes, this morning bathed %in maplelight MARINE STORY First Line: Training your men to survive MARY'S DINER First Line: Walk through the casino where the slot machine Last Line: The ninety-nine cent breakfast at mary's diner: %100th chance of winning MASKS First Line: That's all it is -- Last Line: By clear skin and firm muscles %when I was young MECHANIC First Line: Most men use MEDEA THE SORCERESS Poem Text First Line: She is in the home for unwed mothers Subject(s): Women MEDEA THE SORCERESS First Line: She is in the home for unwed mothers Last Line: The lady of light Subject(s): Women MEDEA'S CHARIOT First Line: No one is with me Last Line: On this empty road MEDEA'S CHILDREN First Line: Like sappho's dawm Last Line: From the morning's radiance MEDIA, THE NEW SORCERESS First Line: How I have bragged aall these years Last Line: Where are you leading me now MEDITATION ON THE KING OF STAVES (WANDS) First Line: It is the salamander Last Line: Duality %equality %its power MEDUSA IN THE CITY DUMP First Line: Oh, what did they mean Last Line: Though I suppose that's why I still scare you so much MEMORY First Line: There are days when MEN'S EYES First Line: When there is something in the air Last Line: For whom I barter everything -- just %for a touch MINT FLOWERS First Line: The crush of lavender Last Line: Make it as perfect as a movie MIRROR OF A DAY CHIMING MARIGOLD First Line: Astronomer, %I strike my gong for you Last Line: One who studies %my moon MISSING SANDAL First Line: How could he just walk Last Line: Do not complement each other: %silver and gold MOLE AT CHLOE'S First Line: From oaxaca the black tar Last Line: Surely this is a movie, %not life? MONEYLIGHT First Line: Last night I danced alone Last Line: To assuage you, to hold you, to love you securely, as no %father, %as no lover, even the invisible o MOON EXPLODES IN AUTUMN AS A MILKWEED POD First Line: Is there a moment when the moon explodes in autumn MOON SLIDES HER POINTED SLIPPER INTO THE DARKENING SKY First Line: The man smoking lucky strikes Last Line: Splintered with light, %filled with light MORE LIGHT, MORE LIGHT First Line: Dear bill MORNING GLORIES First Line: Every year Last Line: The trumpet blows louder MORNING SHADE First Line: Ribbons of tuberose begonias Last Line: In a better neighborhood MORNING STAR First Line: At dawn %when I need the warmth Last Line: My mother always said it was 'darkest before the dawn' MOTORCYCLIST IN THE WOODS First Line: The big red radishes Last Line: Radishes, %a crumb of cheese to refresh you MOVING THE CHAIR First Line: I forget how differently Last Line: Their heads and place it perfectly %in a spot you hadn't realized %was even there MRS. VAN BLAIR'S AVIARY First Line: A whole room for birds MY $15 LILY First Line: I know you thought I was wasteful Last Line: Say, no bulb is worth fifteen dollars MY AUNT ELLA MEETS THE BUDDHA ON HIS BIRTHDAY First Line: She would like to roll down the aisles MY FRIEND First Line: Who named his son lorca Last Line: Jump off a cliff or vanish %in the silver night MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYD First Line: The man I hadn't seen for so many years Last Line: On my high horse -- that magic horse -- %long ago MY KNEES GO BEFORE THE FIRING SQUAD AT DAWN First Line: Pain visits me MY MOTHER'S MILKMAN Poem Text First Line: Cloyce hamilton, / a slender tan man in white uniform Subject(s): Milk; Milkmen; Milkmaids MY MOTHER'S MILKMAN First Line: Cloyce hamilton, %a slender tan man in white uniform Last Line: With cream from california's %pellissier dairy Subject(s): Milk MY TROUBLE Poem Text First Line: My trouble / is that I have the spirit of gertrude stein Last Line: Somebody's / secretary Subject(s): Toklas, Alice B. (1877-1967) MY TROUBLE First Line: My trouble %is that I have the spirit of gertrude stein Last Line: Not even if it is you somebody's %secretary Subject(s): Toklas, Alice B. (1877-1967) MYSTERE First Line: Silence is a form of order Last Line: He's chaos, not order NEIGHBORHOOD LIGHT First Line: The fat woman whose Last Line: Back out of the dark NELL'S BIRTHDAY First Line: After the feast of grandma's tofu Last Line: Surrounded by a city %of %drowned sailors? NEW MOON, A SCAR First Line: How can you see %something which isn't there Last Line: Just like the new moon NIGHT First Line: Did she ride to you Last Line: She is the rose, but %you are the light NIGHT BLOOMING JASMINE: THE MYTH OF REBIRTH IN BERKELEY First Line: It wasn't on crete, but in the hills of berkeley Last Line: The greta garbo women cooking %alone [or, in the fragrance of night blooming jassmine] NIGHT RIDES OF MY NEIGHBOR, LORCA, THAT PREVENT SLEEP First Line: Outside my window %coffeecups have scented the breath Last Line: Without my constant %articulate %care? NO MORE SOFT TALK First Line: Don't ask a geologist about rocks Last Line: I will not make it easy for you %anymore Subject(s): Women's Rights NUNS First Line: There is a line, a girdle Last Line: When he looks at his %bride ODE TO A LEBANESE CROCK OF OLIVES First Line: As some women love jewels Last Line: From a failed beach girl, %out of the west OLD GARDEN First Line: I examine %over my pearly silent keyboard Last Line: The sailor of my dreamlight OLD JASON IN SAN JOSE First Line: He's there, living among the computer chips Last Line: Could that difference be the subject %of so many tales ON BARBARA'S SHORE First Line: The ocean has befriended me ON SATURN, AFTER M First Line: No sound Last Line: I always knew %where I am Subject(s): Farewell ON THE BOARDWALK IN ATLANTIC CITY First Line: Early september ON THE SUBJECT OF ROSES First Line: California shakes its petals %poppies ON THE TERRACE AT POINT DUME First Line: The white dome of the house, like an observatory where Last Line: Invisibly starred umbrella where nothing is the %everything of %music OPENING THE SUNRISE First Line: She feels it shimmering up Last Line: Of morning's cafe au lait ORANGE First Line: Driving through the desert at night in summer can be Last Line: As you drive, as you drove %as you remember one %beginning? ORCHID BREATH First Line: There is nothing earthy about me, friends Last Line: My gold teeth gleaming out of my skull ORCHIDS AT OLDSMOBILE First Line: He looked different from the image of Last Line: Turn out all false lights.' ORCHIDS GROWING ON THE GREEN FELT First Line: Blackjack tables, my hands holding Last Line: Held in my hand like a giant card. %broken wings ORDINARY OBJECTS/COILS OF BEAUTY First Line: There were the oranges Last Line: Coiling in my desert life ORDINARY POEM First Line: Where does the sun come from ORIENT EXPRESS First Line: Riding the train to paris Last Line: You daily %wanted to behold ORPHEE First Line: Eating greek food, %grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb Last Line: Eurydice whom %we can never %bring back ORPHEUS AND ROSES: A WOMAN'S MYTH First Line: I know a woman who rides naked on her zebra, except Last Line: American beauty rose petals OUR LADY OF THE CHANTERELLES First Line: I love knowing that when a person opens Last Line: The beauty of this aging %desolated terrain OVERNIGHT PROJECTS WITH WOOD First Line: Lined up OVERWEIGHT POEM First Line: Biscuits with honey running down into the deep crevices PAMELA'S GREEN TOMATO PIE First Line: She stands by the sink Last Line: But she will not have many %such moments PANDAS First Line: Always wearing black, with his smooth Last Line: The black and white, endangered panda edge %of poetry PANSIES First Line: Didn't have any Last Line: That's why I am feeling %so calm PANSIES First Line: They are faces. Last Line: Because there is %nothing there %to hear PARKIN First Line: Simple bread for tea. Oh think of those mornings Last Line: The small things,' as sally called them, %which save us from desolation PATRIOTIC POEM Poem Text First Line: George washington, your name is on my lips Subject(s): Presidents, United States; Washington, George (1732-1799) PATRIOTIC POEM First Line: George washington, your name is on my lips Last Line: When will I finally become the first president's wife? Subject(s): Presidents, United States; Washington, George (1732-1799) PEACHES First Line: Soft baskets full of their yielding flesh Last Line: One cannot take it %personally PEARS First Line: Of chutney, and poaching, of hard Last Line: Peeling, and rending the %soft core PERFUME: 1. SHALIMAR First Line: It started with my mother's shalimar. So Last Line: That disappears everywhere except %in my closet PERFUME: 2. BELLE DU JOUR First Line: Last month, while listening to an npr interview with catherine Last Line: Europeans described in the fifties of this century PERFUME: 3. AUTUMN First Line: Robert is tearing up the summer garden Last Line: Can you detect the slight subtle fragrance of mitsouko? PERFUME: 4. BRAISED SHORT RIBS First Line: And purple mashed potatoes Last Line: I am sure I will always wear perfume PERSONAL & IMPERSONAL LANDSCAPES First Line: Jim tate en l'age d'or PHOTOS First Line: My sister in her well-tailored silk blouse hands me Last Line: How I hate my destiny Subject(s): Family Life; Photography And Photographers PICTURE OF A GIRL DRAWN IN BLACK AND WHITE Poem Text First Line: A girl sits in a black room Subject(s): Girls; Reality PICTURE OF A GIRL DRAWN IN BLACK AND WHITE First Line: A girl sits in a black room Last Line: And complete combing my black unreal hair Subject(s): Girls; Reality PINK DRESS First Line: I could not wear that pink dress tonight PLACING A $2 BET FOR A MAN WHO WILL NEVER GO First Line: There is some beauty in sorrow POEM FOR A LITTLE BOY ON THE BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY First Line: You have POET AT THE CARPENTER'S BENCH First Line: Building up POET RECOGNIZING THE ECHO OF THE VOICE First Line: We are burning Last Line: You have used our skulls %for ashtrays Subject(s): Absence; Beauty; Identity; Sexism; Women; Women's Rights POINT DUME First Line: The runner, walking next to me Last Line: Of finding sweet water POLITESSE First Line: We can't even say his name any more Last Line: The molecules of polite address PONY EXPRESS RIDER First Line: It was so hot in that apartment/harold Last Line: Only tell us what we already know PORTRAIT OF A LADY First Line: The fujllness Last Line: Scattered over the ocean, like petals PRE-QUANTUM-THEORY UNIVERSE First Line: The isn't the postmistress yet Last Line: There is no deep reality %yet PRECISELY, NOT VIOLETS First Line: I only mark PRECISION First Line: Walking, remembering PREFACE First Line: Dear michael PUMPKIN PIE, OR REASSURANCES ARE ALWAYS FALSE; THOUGH WE LOVE THEM First Line: Pumpkin, %freshly scraped out of its tightly adhering Last Line: Do you think it will set?' %'of course, %it will be delicious.' Subject(s): Food And Eating; Pies; Pumpkins QUEEN ANNE'S LACE First Line: Broken stems -- %you see them in the darkening Last Line: Of destiny. %never averted QUEEN OF WANDS First Line: One week RAY AND THE WHITE CAMARO: A MEDITATION ON THE SILVER SCREEN First Line: He was tall and lanky, the way I Last Line: Late-driving %silvery %metallic %life REACHING OUT WITH THE HANDS OF THE SUN First Line: Atun-re %the sun disk READING BONJOUR, TRISTESSE AT THE FLORENCE CRITTENDEN HOME First Line: I was empty as a new car, and Last Line: What lady sings that song now READING THE PHARMACIST'S DAUGHTER'S LETTERS First Line: Each one feels %like digging into a walled garden Last Line: Sharp on a cut page REALIZATION OF DIFFERENCE First Line: The realization of difference comes Last Line: And when will the realization %of difference %come to you? RECOGNIZING THAT MY WRISTS ALWAYS HAVE SALMON First Line: Betrayal' %he asked me %the RED BANDANNA First Line: I too like to wear them Last Line: Once seductive, though never dishonest, %red-bandanna smile RED IN THE MORNING First Line: When the cardinal %comes to the empty feeder Last Line: Certainly not, %an experiment RED RUNNER First Line: She comes at me in red tights RED SILK CLOTH AND THE PIKE STREET MARKET First Line: A pile of salmon covering a table as big as our wooden terrace Last Line: Joins me in the comfort of sleep RED SILK SCARF First Line: Wearing his long coat Last Line: But that is what I am here %to teach him REMINDED OF ONE OF THOSE GIRLS I NEVER WAS First Line: Each night REMOVED FROM NATURAL HABITAT First Line: The feathers are thick and look sculptured RESCUE POEM First Line: When he diagnosed RIDING IN THE NEW TRUCK First Line: I am wrapped in blue, a baby robin Last Line: Blue-belled, ringing %our way west RING First Line: I carry it on my keychain, which itself RING OF IRONY First Line: What do you say to the mother RINGLESS Poem Text First Line: I cannot stand the man who wears Subject(s): Jewelry & Jewelers RINGLESS First Line: I cannot stand the man who wears Last Line: Not even if it is you Subject(s): Jewelry And Jewelers ROBERT WAXES THE CAR First Line: Pedestrian as iceberg lettuce Last Line: Ball studs %pierced into his upper ear ROBERT'S CAPS First Line: He sears %the cap of darkness Last Line: Allowing it neither to escape from head %nor toe ROBERT'S SPAGHETTI SAUCE First Line: He picks the tomatoes, both Last Line: Live our imagined life %in autumn's studded light ROBERT'S YELLOW TOMATOES First Line: The goldfinches of our summer garden Last Line: When the goldfinches return %to our backyard feeder ROLLER SKATE JAZZ First Line: I am on them, old metal roller skates Last Line: Comes down to the ground %silkily ROSENKAVALIER (KNIGHT OF THE ROSE) First Line: You ride this %train from vienna to munich Last Line: Whatever we want to ROSES & GRAPES First Line: Auntie pearl's mulchy garden Last Line: The second day %of waiting ROSES AND SHAME First Line: You never think about the fact that if you sit up Last Line: The golden poppies blundering all over the brown hills %of southern california ROSY CORN GODDESS First Line: This is the year when I want to wear velvet -- the velvet of Last Line: Created universe is it the first act %of morality ROSY TRICKSTER, OLD COYOTE First Line: What I want to see Last Line: Rose selavy, have you finally turned fifty too SADNESS ON ROBERT'S FACE First Line: It's always been there Last Line: When we talk about money SALAD FLOWERS First Line: The pacific ocean Last Line: With her flower hand against my lacquered toes SALLY PLUM First Line: Velvet, %soft as a mouse Last Line: Some say we are %what we eat SALT MARSH First Line: His knobbed walking stick Last Line: A little burrowing owl SALT-FREE TALK First Line: He'll never have a medical problem/ Last Line: Spice into %their daily texture SALUTING THE SUN First Line: In penn park %we could always smell Last Line: With the golden hills of california SAN DIEGO First Line: Driving my sailorfather Last Line: Except with letters coming from miles and miles %across the water SAPPHIRES & EMERALDS IN THE MAIL First Line: An aging boy blown into a giant mollusk SATIN First Line: Her hands were never beaufiful, but they Last Line: Claws, as I age. Little claws SATURDAY NIGHT First Line: The muddy tangled week %was over Last Line: With only an old mother SATURN'S RINGS: AS ESSAY ON TERRITORY First Line: Suspended in a gravitational field SCALDING THE POT First Line: He smiles his jazz bar smile Last Line: Of the western ceremony %of morning tea SCREW, A TECHNICAL LOVE POEM First Line: Sometimes I think of your father in his neat gangster shoes SCREW, A TECHNICAL LOVE POEM First Line: N. (me. Screwe; m fr. Escroue, hole in SCULPTOR First Line: Dear george washington -- no %dear robert morris Last Line: Personal american history SEA First Line: When we lived at the house in the orange grove Last Line: Dealing the cribbage game SEA THRIFT & GORSE Poem Text First Line: As if the sea is not the most extravagant Subject(s): Sea; Names; Ocean SEARCHING FOR THE CANTO FERMO First Line: Norman %the moon, like mary beth's pleasing savories SEEING ROBERT IN THE CRYSTAL BALL First Line: He's in the corner SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH HOPPER'S GLASSES First Line: No longer a revelation Last Line: Tricking us into believing in its %monolithic %singularity SESTINA FROM THE HOME GARDENER Poem Text First Line: These dried-out paint brushes which fell from my lips have been removed Subject(s): Divorce SESTINA FROM THE HOME GARDENER First Line: These dried-out paint brushes which fell from my lips have been removed Last Line: Counts of drops will substitute the pointed mountain, far away, unfamiliar? Subject(s): Divorce SESTINA TO THE COMMON GLASS OF BEER: I DO NOT DRINK BEER First Line: What calendar do you consult for an explosion of the sun? Last Line: Flashing at me each spring, others sit al fresco drinking beer SHARPE'S MOUTH First Line: Lovers notice mouths Last Line: Perfectly sighted at even a time-faded %disappearing target SHE BENDS TO OFFER ME RUNNING SHOES First Line: Her hair, brown as coffee, and ending at Last Line: Her silver foot disppearing into a reflection of this girl's%splashing, coffee-cup hair SHORT FABLE OF ENDURANCE AND PITY First Line: Once there was a buffalo who liked to eat mushrooms Last Line: How could that ever be his proper identity? SHOULDERS First Line: What do actors do Last Line: When that fantasy %is challenged SILKY ISLANDS First Line: Each sunday we leave our little house Last Line: My life in the village of east lansing SILVER First Line: How much I want to sit down SILVER ARROWS First Line: When I turn on the phone machine to listen Last Line: You don't yet know SILVER COYOTE SONG First Line: Well and what were you doing in the woodshed Last Line: Leaving a vapor of silver feathers in the night SILVER SURFER ON THE DESERT First Line: Greasewood, blackbrush, sage, and Last Line: Which does not reflect %light SITTING AT HOPPER'S MARBLETOP TABLE First Line: In hopper's painting, she is drinking a cup of coffee Last Line: To the zebra always waiting for her outside SIZE First Line: Matters to me. I like men who are large as angels Last Line: Suddenly I am the one %with giant spreading wings SKATE BOARD First Line: Rolling behind %the bus, hooked on Last Line: With salt in his eyes SKETCHING FLOWERS First Line: When I discovered that my eye Last Line: The one from which to draw my life SKETCHING ROSES First Line: How many petals Last Line: Away on %sunday morning SKIER First Line: Squinting eyes SLAP First Line: I want to tell you Last Line: If that is the right word SLEEPING IN THE RING OF FIRE First Line: Call me a lily SLICING ORANGES FOR JEREMIAH First Line: As the juice ran out on the wooden board SLOT MACHINES First Line: They are nice to you Last Line: Nice, so willing to keep taking my %love SMALL BLOOD STAIN FOUND AFTER MAKING LOVE First Line: Revelation comes to everyone Last Line: On you every night SMALL THINGS First Line: A smell could drive you away SMOKE First Line: Smoke fron chimneys SMUDGING Poem Text First Line: I come out of a california orange grove Subject(s): Orange; Orchards SMUDGING First Line: I come out of a california orange grove SNOW CRASH First Line: I know this title Last Line: Others wear me on their fingers SNOW HANDS First Line: He's pale, %rosebud lips Last Line: In the infinite closet of myself SNOW ON IDUN'S APPLES First Line: One curve of a cucumber stem, like a crochet hook Last Line: Last year's autumn leaves, still hanging on the bare %march branches SNOWY WINTER IN EAST LANSING First Line: We feed the birds SO COLD IN WINTER First Line: And so what: %that you think about Last Line: I wouldn't have any luck at all SOME BRILLIANT SKY First Line: David was my brother SOME CONSTANTLY BESIEGED CASTLE First Line: Next time we meet SOME PUMPKINS First Line: Lie %on our patio brick SOMETHING WHICH SOMETIMES EVEN MY KNEES SMILE First Line: You have replaced beethoven SOUND TRACK First Line: Is there ever enough music to make the words sound %interesting Last Line: For my kind of movie's possibly silent %sound track SOUR MILK First Line: You can't make it STANDING AT THE DOOR First Line: At the door STAR First Line: It is a dahlia, its pointed STARLIGHT First Line: Some of it Last Line: Slightly %crumbled STARRY, STARRY, WINDOWS OF THE SOUL First Line: Steel man, who photographs people's eyes unflinchingly Last Line: You only imagine there are windows framing it STEAM First Line: Rusing from my black cup Last Line: Stacked against the fence like big blue poker chips STEEL MAN First Line: Leather jackets -- Last Line: And doesn't feel either soft %or human STEELY SILENCE First Line: If a man calls himself a poet STILL THINKING OF ORCHIDS First Line: The green python looked like a succulent Last Line: An unwillingness to accept eastern gardens %snakes STONES First Line: Cast a white grid STORIES ABOUT MY LIFE First Line: So wet this week, that if I had Last Line: I only give the fleshy fungi a whirl.' STORY OF RICHARD MAXFIELD First Line: He jumped out of a window SUDDEN MENDENHALL GLACIER First Line: The oaks which are suddenly covered with a glacier Last Line: Of life forms past, perhaps even now %extinct SUE'S DIET First Line: A tiny can %of tuna %and a glass of wine Last Line: Under the snow? As the fat melts %from our bodies? SUMMER LIGHT First Line: So now it's the reds Last Line: I could live my life just thinking %of the petals of flowers SUMMER NUTHATCH SOMETIMES HANGS UPSIDE-DOWN First Line: When the basil is greener than emeralds Last Line: About the jason with whom you spent that summer %on a greek island SUN First Line: Under my elbow. In my elbow SUN BECOMES THE MOON First Line: When the clouds cover the sun at noon Last Line: Dry as the seas %of the moon SUN GODS HAVE SUN SPOTS First Line: I don't care if you are SVETI STEFAN First Line: Imagine every house SWAN'S NECK First Line: Consider the swan Last Line: Should not have her share of white-swan love SYLVESTER IN THE ARUGULA First Line: My husband loves cats, and we have a wooden one Last Line: Not the shoes, as he said, but how seriously %you wear them T'AI CHI First Line: The tips of the lilac bush show Last Line: Though perhaps not yet speak TALL BOY First Line: Beach sand makes you aware Last Line: Poised, next to his motionless body, %not touching. Unwilling %to disturb the sleeper TANGO LESSON First Line: Lights in the cinema theater come up; only a Last Line: Dance with me,' and sally potter's 'the tango lesson' TANGO-ING First Line: This man TEA CEREMONY First Line: The blue jay %swaying on the head Last Line: Jabbing at seeds, as he swings TEACUP FEET First Line: She said that bound feet Last Line: We were so helpless, %beautiful %and small TEARING UP MY MOTHER'S LETTERS Poem Text First Line: The rain of summer thunders down past the sweet peas Subject(s): Mothers & Daughters; Letters; Grief; Self-hate; Sorrow; Sadness TEARING UP MY MOTHER'S LETTERS First Line: The rain of summer thunders down past the sweet peas TELLING YOU TRUE, ABOUT MY FANTASY LIFE First Line: Wdn't let anybody THANKING MY MOTHER FOR PIANO LESSONS Poem Text First Line: The relief of putting your fingers on the keyboard, Subject(s): Education THANKING MY MOTHER FOR PIANO LESSONS First Line: As if %you had just built a wooden table Last Line: From even an ugly %past Subject(s): Education THANKING MY MOTHER FOR PIANO LESSONS First Line: The relief of putting your fingers on the keyboard Last Line: Of the beauty that can come %from even an ugly %past THE ASIAN GAY DISCO IN LA Poem Text First Line: He sits there with his pad of paper Subject(s): Gays & Lesbians THE DIAMOND DOG Poem Text Subject(s): Dogs THE DIAMOND DOG FOLLOWS ME TO THE COURT OF PONCE DE LEON Poem Text First Line: They announce me as a princess, Subject(s): Fountains; Gifts & Giving; Infinity THE DUCHESS POTATOES Poem Text First Line: My people grew potatoes Subject(s): Food Habits; Potatoes THE EMERALD TATTOOED ON MY ARM Poem Text First Line: Tattoos are taboo / in the bourgeois white world Subject(s): Tattoos THE FATHER OF MY COUNTRY Poem Text First Line: All fathers in western civilization must have THE HITCHHIKERS Poem Text First Line: They burn you Subject(s): Hitchhikers THE ICE EAGLE Poem Text First Line: It was with resolution that she gave up the Last Line: The ice people can do nothing / but melt Subject(s): Reality; Swanson, Gloria (1897-1983); Women THE PHOTOS Poem Text First Line: My sister in her well-tailored silk blouse hands me Subject(s): Family Life; Photography & Photographers; Relatives THE PUMPKIN PIE, OR REASSURANCES ARE ALWAYS FALSE; THOUGH WE LOVE THEM Poem Text First Line: Pumpkin, / freshly scraped out of its tightly adhering Subject(s): Food & Eating; Pies; Pumpkins THE RING Poem Text First Line: I carry it on my keychain, which itself Subject(s): Rings; Keys; Divorce THE STORY OF RICHARD MAXFIELD Poem Text First Line: He jumped out of a window Subject(s): Maxfield, Richard (1927-1969); Composers; Suicide; Drugs & Drug Abuse; Narcotics; Opium; Cocaine; Crack; Heroin THERE'S PLENTY OF ANGUISH AT THE RAILROAD First Line: No, I don't know what your connection with the railroad is THOSE MYTHICAL SILVER PEARS First Line: I remember a past THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS First Line: Even when I was so young that I had no idea TIGHT First Line: This dark room TO AN AUTOCRAT First Line: Today you told me TO CELEBRATE MY BODY First Line: Where %you had only to touch me TO THE THIN AND ELEGANT WOMAN WHO RESIDES INSIDE First Line: Curly-head TREE First Line: Outside the north window UKRANIAN ROSE First Line: Beefy anna UN MORCEAU EN FORME DE POIRE First Line: Sitting on my kitchen %butcher block table Last Line: Smelling of vanilla %an earthy bean UNCLE SAM IN THE WHITE HOUSE First Line: Silver grapes in sleeves UNEASY RIDER Poem Text First Line: Falling in love with a mustache Subject(s): Love - Nature Of; Motorcycles UNIVERSES First Line: Walking on this springy grass UNLIKE STARS First Line: You ask me again and again Last Line: To live the stories, rather than just %to read them UNPERMITTED SILENCE First Line: We %old desert rats %are used to it Last Line: It is the listening, not the hearing, %that I do best USING HEATHER'S WOODEN SPOON First Line: From the black beans, with onions Last Line: A crude earth-bound protein VALENTINE FOR BEN FRANKLIN WHO DRIVES A TRUCK IN C.A. First Line: I cut the deck VALENTINE FOR BEN FRANKLIN WHO DRIVES A TRUCK IN CALIFORNIA First Line: I cut the deck %and found a magician VIENNESE COFFEE First Line: Wearing a coat of whipped cream whiteness Last Line: That love and death go together VIOLETS First Line: Cups of them, %the wet bank, earth cressed Last Line: Violetta. How can we forget her %as we sing her name? VIRTUOSO LITERATURE FOR TWO AND FOUR HANDS First Line: Memory relies on emotion VOLCANIC ASHES SMEARED ON THE SATURN MAP First Line: The phone line is as thin as old dried spaghetti WAITING FOR JASON First Line: White lady %like a narcissus Last Line: Berries, caviar, chocolates, hot blintzes WAITING FOR THE MORNING GLORIES Poem Text First Line: Each year, / no matter what seeds, out of Subject(s): Flowers; Morning Glories WAITING FOR THE MORNING GLORIES First Line: Each year, %no matter what seeds, out of Last Line: With its beauty. Something final %besides just death Subject(s): Flowers; Morning Glories WAITING FOR THE NEW TOM CRUISE MOVIE: SUMMER '88 First Line: Try %playing pool Last Line: It might be %a risk WAKOSKI VISITS SATURN First Line: Someone who owns golden retrievers WALKING IN THE HERB GARDEN WITH BARBARA DRAKE First Line: Summer %your husband shooting pistols WALKING PAST PAUL BLACKBURN'S APT. ON 7TH ST First Line: I wanted to take a walk WANTING BEES First Line: You are writing your Last Line: Cassandra, I was, even then WARNING TO THE MAN IN RECEIVING AT SEARS First Line: Be suspicious WATCHING THE DRINKERS OF GRAND MARNIER AT THE PEANUT BARREL First Line: Windexing the galaxy to Last Line: The only promise %I ever wanted WATER, MIRRORS First Line: There is a corridor Last Line: To get up this morning WEARING THE SILVER SHOES First Line: I'd like to hear silver dollars clanking out Last Line: I don't think that place is called 'home.' WHAT HAPPENED First Line: Between 1850 and 1855 WHAT OTHERS HEAR First Line: She is drinking water from a thick blue glass goblet Last Line: They would never come to her aid WHAT WAS IT LIKE? First Line: My colleague asked me, your life in new york Last Line: I'd put her %in the index too WHAT WOULD TENNESSEE WILLIAMS HAVE SAID First Line: Is there drama in everyday life? Last Line: Kill the old when they are no longer cunning enough %to survive alone WHEN BREAKFAST IS BROUGHT BY THE MORNING STAR Last Line: The story you were always destined to tell WHEN CANNED PEACHES TURN INTO MAPLELIGHT First Line: It glows %the small yellow maple Last Line: In whatever form I can get it WHEN YOU THROW AMBER INTO THE WELL OF THE MOON First Line: A face looks out at me WHEN YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE STUDY THE BIRDS First Line: Two jays WHITE AS SUNDAY SCHOOL SOCKS First Line: And when they are furled like umbrellas Last Line: Little girl %sunday school socks WHITE CARDAMOM First Line: What were you doing Last Line: I thought you understood the code WHITE CAT First Line: Like the victory sign Last Line: The heart weighed on a scale against a feather for truth WHITE LAS VEGAS First Line: This snow is all the games I play in las vegas Last Line: As the legs of a california girl WHITE SHIRT IN THE CLASSROOM First Line: She depicts white shirts hanging in her bathroom Last Line: Completely away from sex, love or romance WHOLE SUM First Line: The swimming pool/turquoise water Last Line: Beautiful and terrible, %out of life WHY HE LOVES JOHN LENNON First Line: Secrets are in his head Last Line: Clear, the color of a penny WHY I AM NOT A PAINTER Poem Text First Line: No ideas / but in things? But then Subject(s): Paintings & Painters; Landscape WHY MY MOTHER LIKES LIBERACE First Line: The diamond grand WIND SECRETS First Line: I like the wind WINDOW MOON First Line: At just the moment of apogee Last Line: To go down and look at the orchids WINTER ODE First Line: Winter winter winter WINTER POEM FOR TONY WEINBURGER ... First Line: I have so much that I am supposed to do WINTER SUNSHINE First Line: Hard glint of reason Last Line: It is so sharp that even a hummingbird wing %could make a shadow WITH WORDS First Line: Poems come from incomplete knowledge WOMAN WHO WEARS GREY First Line: Soft as a pigeon, a mourning dove YELLOW BRICK ROAD First Line: No salad has ever tasted as good Last Line: On that most perfect salad YELLOW TULIPS & THE QUESTION OF BEAUTY First Line: Did she ever get Last Line: Much better than %ours YOUR SISTER IN JAIL First Line: She doesn't get it %that when you start in Last Line: Everybody else does, most of the time ZURBARAN First Line: It is light %which defines Last Line: Is darkness %and I long for light |
|