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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External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

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

Poems in English 

• William Gilmore Simms – William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Ode–Shell The Old City! Shell! by William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Morris Island by William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Hast Thou A Song For A Flower by William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Flight To Nature by William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Blessings On Children by William Gilmore Simms by William Gilmore Simms
• Hymn To Woden by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Hope, An Allegorical Sketch by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Epitaph On H. Walmsley, Esq., by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Elegy Written At Hotwells, Bristol by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Distant View Of England From The Sea by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Death Of Captain Cooke, by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Battle Of Corruna by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Avenue In Savernake Forest by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• At Tynemouth Priory by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• At Oxford by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• At Malvern by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• At Dover by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Approach Of Summer by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles
• Abba Thule’s Lament For His Son Prince Le Boo by William Lisle Bowles by William Lisle Bowles

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

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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