A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)

My swirling wants. Your frozen lips.

The grammar turned and attacked me.

Themes, written under duress.

Emptiness of the notations.

They gave me a drug that slowed the healing of wounds.

I want you to see this before I leave:

the experience of repetition as death

the failure of criticism to locate the pain

the poster in the bus that said:

my bleeding is under control

A red plant in a cemetary of plastic wreaths.

A last attempt: the language is a dialect called metaphor.

These images go unglossed: hair, glacier, flashlight.

When I think of a landscape I am thinking of a time.

When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.

I could say: those mountains have a meaning

but further than that I could not say.

To do something very common, in my own way.

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Poems in English 

• The Stwonèn Pworch by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Stage Coach by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Sparrow Club by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Slantèn Light O’ Fall by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Sky A-Clearen by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Shy Man by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Shepherd O’ The Farm by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Settle An’ The Girt Wood Vire by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Scud by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Rwose In The Dark by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Railroad by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Poplars by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Pleäce Our Own Ageän by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Pleäce A Teäle’s A-Twold O’ by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Pillar’d Geäte by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Peasant’s Return by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The New House A-Gettèn’ Wold by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Neäme Letters by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Music O’ The Dead by William Barnes by William Barnes
• The Motherless Child by William Barnes by William Barnes

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Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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