to the cut flowers.
They bowed
their heads lower.
Stay, I said to the spider,
who fled.
Stay, leaf.
It reddened,
embarrassed for me and itself.
Stay, I said to my body.
It sat as a dog does,
obedient for a moment,
soon starting to tremble.
Stay, to the earth
of riverine valley meadows,
of fossiled escarpments,
of limestone and sandstone.
It looked back
with a changing expression, in silence.
Stay, I said to my loves.
Each answered,
Always.
- Jane Hirshfield
My ultimate choice for Poetry Out Loud. I haven't learned a Hirshfield poem in by heart, although "The Gods Are Not Large" is one of my all-time favorites. The images here, and the lightly pessimistic humor engaged me and I suspect will do so for all. I'm planning to learn both poems for Poetry Out Loud next week, and you can check out "The Gods Are Not Large" on an earlier "Poem in Your Post" entry. There's an interview with Ms. Hirshfield there too.
If you find this poem intriguing, sample more at her author site on poets.org.
MFB, aloud,
L
- Jane Hirshfield
My ultimate choice for Poetry Out Loud. I haven't learned a Hirshfield poem in by heart, although "The Gods Are Not Large" is one of my all-time favorites. The images here, and the lightly pessimistic humor engaged me and I suspect will do so for all. I'm planning to learn both poems for Poetry Out Loud next week, and you can check out "The Gods Are Not Large" on an earlier "Poem in Your Post" entry. There's an interview with Ms. Hirshfield there too.
If you find this poem intriguing, sample more at her author site on poets.org.
MFB, aloud,
L
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