Adrienne Rich (1929-2012): For The Dead

I dreamed I called you on the telephone

to say: Be kinder to yourself
but you were sick and would not answer

The waste of my love goes on this way
trying to save you from yourself

I have always wondered about the left-over
energy, the way water goes rushing down a hill
long after the rains have stopped

or the fire you want to go to bed from
but cannot leave, burning-down but not burnt-down
the red coals more extreme, more curious
in their flashing and dying
than you wish they were
sitting long after midnight


An apposite poem at the time of her passing via bryantmcgill.com

Posted via email from davidfcooper's posterous