Parodos
Long ago, I was wounded.
I learned
to exist, in reaction,
out of touch
with the world: I'll tell you
what I meant to be-
a device that listened.
Not inert: still.
A piece of wood. A stone.
Why should I tire myself, debating, arguing?
Those people breathing in the other beds
could hardly follow, being
uncontrollable
like any dream-
Through the blinds, I watched
the moon in the night sky, shrinking and swelling-
I was born to a vocation:
to bear witness
to the great mysteries.
Now that I've seen both
birth and death, I know
to the dark nature these
are proofs, not
mysteries-
by Louise Gluck
This poem, has been, and will be, one of my favorites of Glucks. Thanks for the beauty, azf.
ReplyDeletei love the last stanza of this poem. it kills me.
ReplyDeletei don't know what the dark nature is, but it sounds scary and wonderful.
I agree with cz. I don't think I would want to know the dark nature even if Gluck was willing to tell me.
ReplyDelete