
For St. Valentine: GREATER THAN LOVE. Robert Hass.
Etymology Her body by the fire Mimicked the light-conferring midnights Of philosophy. Suppose they are dead now. Isn’t “dead now” …
Etymology Her body by the fire Mimicked the light-conferring midnights Of philosophy. Suppose they are dead now. Isn’t “dead now” …
new year I. happy new year—happy new light, new world—happy new edge, new realm— happy new haven! a first letter …
Maya Angelou chatted with Dave Chappelle and said that the chief virtue to unlocking all other virtues, including love, is …
Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, [For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.] For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he …
‘ . . . What happens when a human being reads or, as I should prefer to put it, is read to by a poem? What happens is that he receives a perhaps comprehensible message from the dark heart of things. For when the heart of things is subjected to the formal interrogation of the poet it is, to precisely that degree, dominated or subjugated by the courage that puts the question. It is made to confess.
—George Barker
Tiger in the Menagerie No one could say how the tiger got into the menagerie. It was too flash, too …
‘Hardly a man takes a half hour’s nap after dinner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and …
‘My Own Delightful Gordon,
‘Your letter has moved me as deeply as you may imagine. But alas, I must ever decline to be Mrs. Lowther. My reasons are twofold. I am dedicated to my Girls as is Madame Pavlova, and there is another in my life whose mutual love reaches out to me beyond the bounds of Time and Space. He is Teddy Lloyd! Intimacy has never taken place with him. He is married to another. One day in the art room we melted into each other’s arms and knew the truth. But I was proud of giving myself to you when you came and took me in the bracken on Arthur’s Seat while the storm raged about us. If I am in a certain condition I shall place the infant in the care of a worthy shepherd and his wife, and we can discuss it calmly as platonic acquaintances. I may permit misconduct to occur again from time to time as an outlet because I am in my Prime. We can also have many a breezy day in the fishing boat at sea.
‘I wish to inform you that your housekeeper fills me with anxiety like John Knox. I fear she is rather narrow, which arises from an ignorance of culture and the Italian scene. Pray ask her not to say “You know your way up” when I call at your house in Cramond. She should take me up and show me in. Her knees are not stiff. She is only pretending that they are.
‘I love to hear you singing “Hey Johnnie Cope.” But were I to receive a proposal of marriage tomorrow from the Lord Lyon King-of-Arms I would decline it.
‘Allow me, in conclusion, to congratulate you warmly on your sexual intercourse, as well as your singing.
‘With fondest joy,
Jean Brodie’
‘For Lent. No puddings on Sundays. No tea except if to keep me awake and then without sugar. Meat only once a day. No verses in Passion week or on Fridays. No lunch or meat on Fridays. Not to sit in an armchair except can work no other way. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday bread and water.
*
‘Drops of rain hanging on rails etc. seen with only the lower rim lighted like nails (or fingers). Screws of brooks and twines. Soft chalky look with more shadowy middles of the globes of cloud on a night with a moon faint or concealed. Mealy clouds with a not brilliant moon. Blunt buds of the ash. Pencil buds of the beech. Lobes of the trees. Cups of the eyes. Gathering back the lightly hinged eyelids. Bows of the eyelids. Pencil of the eyelashes. Juices of the eyeball. Eyelids like leaves, petals, caps, tufted hats, handkerchiefs, sleeves, gloves. Also of the bones sleeved in flesh. Juices of the sunrise. Joins and veins of the same. Vermillion look of the hand held against a candle with the darker parts as the middles of the fingers and especially the knuckles covered with ash.’
[449] I died for Beauty—but was scarce Adjusted in the Tomb When One who died for Truth, was lain In …
Mystic On the slope of the hill, the angels turn their wool robes in pastures of steel and emerald. Flame …
Ghazal of Unexpected Love No one could fathom the perfume, the dark magnolia of your belly. None could know what …
A Blessing in Disguise Yes, they are alive and can have those colors, But I, in my soul, am alive …
I Remember I am not ashamed of this. And be you not ashamed of this. It is not glorious, But …
Leaving Your City In the midnight bar your breath collapsed on me. I balanced on the tip of your smile, …
The Bandaged Shoulder He said he’d hurt himself against a wall or had fallen down. But there was probably some …
Ode to the Sea Here Surrounding the island There’s sea. But what sea? It’s always overflowing. Says yes, Then no, …
from “Mycenae Outlook” II. Cassandra No such thing as innocent bystanding. Her soiled vest, her little breasts, her clipped, devast- ated, …
A Little Ovid Late In The Day It is late in the day to outlive the words: tales of incest, …
Signs Threading the palm, a web of little lines Spells out the lost money, the heart, the head, The wagging …