Stephen Dobyns poems
Jan. 16th, 2007 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cinaedI think Grief and Silence are my favorites of this selection. Man, I really love this class. I never thought I'd enjoy modern poetry as much as I am right now. :)
Grief
Trying to remember you
is like carrying water
in my hands a long distance
across sand. Somewhere
people are waiting.
They have drunk nothing for days.
*
Your name was the food I lived on;
now my mouth is full of dirt and ash.
To say your name was to be surrounded
by feathers and silk; now, reaching out,
I touch glass and barbed wire.
Your name was the thread connecting my life;
now I am fragments on a tailor's floor.
*
I was dancing when I
learned of your death; may
my feet be severed from my body.
Anger
I am the simplest of disguises.
Putting me on, you fling yourself
at your victim. Taking me off,
you are the chance witness, finding
the weapon, just happening by.
*
The animal within him is hungry.
*
His hands come in boxes.
His skin is lined with knives.
His head is a mixture of phosphorus and
sulphur: strike him anywhere.
Envy
You invite me to a banquet in your honor;
I bring my own dinner: ash and vinegar.
*
You won a prize
where I wasn't a judge.
*
I put on the news of your success
like a coat of nails.
Each step I take
is another reason to hate you.
Covetousness
Keep your toys and small possessions;
I only want your hands.
Everything I touch feels like it's mine.
*
He does his shopping in the houses of his friends.
*
I dreamt I was you, sleeping with your wife,
dreaming you were me, sleeping with mine.
Silence
I am the music you were born to.
Then you put me aside, wanting your own;
like sticks scratching together, you wanted your own.
I am the song you will sing longest.
I am the clothing you were born in.
Then you changed me for bright reds and blues;
like a clown or a bridegroom you wanted everything perfect.
Death is a marriage; you will wear me to the wedding.
I am the house you were born in.
Then you left me and went traveling;
like a child without parents or fortune you went traveling.
I am where you are going.
Grief
Trying to remember you
is like carrying water
in my hands a long distance
across sand. Somewhere
people are waiting.
They have drunk nothing for days.
*
Your name was the food I lived on;
now my mouth is full of dirt and ash.
To say your name was to be surrounded
by feathers and silk; now, reaching out,
I touch glass and barbed wire.
Your name was the thread connecting my life;
now I am fragments on a tailor's floor.
*
I was dancing when I
learned of your death; may
my feet be severed from my body.
Anger
I am the simplest of disguises.
Putting me on, you fling yourself
at your victim. Taking me off,
you are the chance witness, finding
the weapon, just happening by.
*
The animal within him is hungry.
*
His hands come in boxes.
His skin is lined with knives.
His head is a mixture of phosphorus and
sulphur: strike him anywhere.
Envy
You invite me to a banquet in your honor;
I bring my own dinner: ash and vinegar.
*
You won a prize
where I wasn't a judge.
*
I put on the news of your success
like a coat of nails.
Each step I take
is another reason to hate you.
Covetousness
Keep your toys and small possessions;
I only want your hands.
Everything I touch feels like it's mine.
*
He does his shopping in the houses of his friends.
*
I dreamt I was you, sleeping with your wife,
dreaming you were me, sleeping with mine.
Silence
I am the music you were born to.
Then you put me aside, wanting your own;
like sticks scratching together, you wanted your own.
I am the song you will sing longest.
I am the clothing you were born in.
Then you changed me for bright reds and blues;
like a clown or a bridegroom you wanted everything perfect.
Death is a marriage; you will wear me to the wedding.
I am the house you were born in.
Then you left me and went traveling;
like a child without parents or fortune you went traveling.
I am where you are going.
