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

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

discovery.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
day_dream.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
cocoon_for_a_skeleton.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
cinema_screen.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
chaplin.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
Cats by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
black_on_black.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
black_morning_lovesong.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
birch_tree.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
betrayal.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
bells_pool_and_sleep.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
attack_on_the_ad_man.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
any_man_speaks.html by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
woken_up_by_beautiful_dreams.html by Poetry In English
was_then.html by Poetry In English
vestiges.html by Poetry In English
un-chien-andalou-an-andalusian-dog.html by Poetry In English
the_poet_angels_who_came_to_dinner.html by Poetry In English
the_nomad039s_vision_ode_to_a_skylark_dressed_in_black.html by Poetry In English
the_man_that_poetry_made.html by Poetry In English

More external links (open in a new tab):

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

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.

Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.