Burning Oneself Out

A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)

We can look into the stove tonight

as into a mirror, yes,

the serrated log, the yellow-blue gaseous core

the crimson-flittered grey ash, yes.

I know inside my eyelids

and underneath my skin

Time takes hold of us like a draft

upward, drawing at the heats

in the belly, in the brain

You told me of setting your hand

into the print of a long-dead Indian

and for a moment, I knew that hand,

that print, that rock,

the sun producing powerful dreams

A word can do this

or, as tonight, the mirror of the fire

of my mind, burning as if it could go on

burning itself, burning down

feeding on everything

till there is nothing in life

that has not fed that fire

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Poems in English 

• The Poetic Principle by Mark Olynyk by Poetry In English
• She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter by Poetry In English
• The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry by Poetry In English
• Sculpture of Debris on the Waterfront by Martina Reisz Newberry by Poetry In English
• Question mark remarks by Mark Miller by Poetry In English
• The joyful things in life by Martin Smith by Poetry In English
• The Frantic by Mark Miller by Poetry In English
• Postures by Martina Reisz Newberry by Poetry In English
• The End of the Argument by Martina Reisz Newberry by Poetry In English
• My Father’s Hats by Mark Irwin by Poetry In English
• The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand by Poetry In English
• The Dragon and The Unicorn by Mary Etta Metcalf by Poetry In English
• Please Don’t Judas Me by Mark Miller by Poetry In English
• Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf by Poetry In English
• The Last Wolf by Mary TallMountain by Poetry In English
• Nestling by Mark R Slaughter by Poetry In English
• The Homeless Man by Mary TallMountain by Poetry In English
• My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf by Poetry In English
• Telescope by Mark R Slaughter by Poetry In English
• My Mother On An Evening In Late Summer by Mark Strand by Poetry In English

More external links (open in a new tab):

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Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

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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