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
- Et Le Marbre Creuse… by Martine Morillon-Carreau
- On Hermocratia (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- Xai Kou0
- Sonnet 35: No more be grieved at that which thou hast done by William Shakespeare
- Felo de Se poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Children039s Eyes
- Carol of Occupations. by Walt Whitman
- Primrose Rose by Rainbow Reed
- Sonnet: On seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams weep at a tale of distress by William Wordsworth
- Even if I don’t hear your voice, I know by Vinko Kalinic
- Domestic Peace by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Николай Заболоцкий – Смерть врача
- Modest Sounds by Michael Brandon Odom
- Гавриил Державин – Надежда на бога
- Dreams Beauty
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).