Exiles
by Marilyn Hacker
Her brown falcon perches above the sink
as steaming water forks over my hands.
Below the wrists they shrivel and turn pink.
I am in exile in my own land.
Her half-grown cats scuffle across the floor
trailing a slime of blood from where they fed.
I lock the door. They claw under the door.
I am an exile in my own bed.
Her spotted mongrel, bristling with red mange,
sleeps on the threshold of the Third Street bar
where I drink brandy as the couples change.
I am in exile where my neighbors are.
On the pavement, cans of ashes burn.
Her green lizard scuttles from the light
around torn cardboard charred to glowing fern.
I am in exile in my own sight.
Her blond child sits on the stoop when I come
back at night. Cold hands, blue lids; we both
need sleep. She tells me she is going to die.
I am in exile in my own youth.
Lady of distances, this fire, this water,
this earth makes sanctuary where I stand.
Call of your animals and your blond daughter,
I am in exile in my own hands.
End of the poem
15 random poems
- The Markets Are Down 2 Amp A Quarter
- With A Copy Of Shakespeares Sonnets On Leaving College
- My Winter Rose poem – Alfred Austin
- Гавриил Державин – На храм при Гапсале
- Олег Чупров – Вечером поздним потянет к Печоре
- F?sulan Idyl by Walter Savage Landor
- Николай Гумилев – Злобный гений, царь сомнений
- At Her Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- To Mr. H. Lawes on His Airs poem – John Milton poems
- Lost Love Is Never Lost
- Владимир Британишский – Девятое января
- Sonnet. Written In Disgust Of Vulgar Superstition poem – John Keats poems
- The Torments Of Love by Sappho
- Николай Гумилев – Леопарди (Набросок)
- The Exeter Road poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
Some external links:
Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US
Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at least for Europe
Yandex – the Russian search engine (it’s probably the best search engine for image searches).