Prison Song

A poem by Alan Dugan

The skin ripples over my body like moon-wooed water,

rearing to escape me. Where could it find another

animal as naked as the one it hates to cover?

Once it told me what was happening outside,

who was attacking, who caressing, and what the air

was doing to feed or freeze me. Now I wake up

dark at night, in a textureless ocean of ignorance,

or fruit bites back and water bruises like a stone.

It’s jealousy, because I look for other tools to know

with, and other armor, better girded to my wish.

So let it lie, turn off the clues or try to leave:

sewn on me seamless like those painful shirts

the body-hating saints wore, the sheath of hell

is pierced to my darkness nonetheless: what traitors

labor in my face, what hints they smuggle through

its arching guard! But even in the night it jails,

with nothing but its lies and silences to feed upon,

the jail itself can make a scenery, sing prison songs,

and set off fireworks to praise a homemade day.

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Poems in English 

• A Plain Life by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• A Greeting by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• A Great Time by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• A Fleeting Passion by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Remorse For Intemperate Speech by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Red Hanrahan’s Song About Ireland by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Reconciliation by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Quarrel In Old Age by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Presences by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Politics by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Players Ask For A Blessing On The Psalteries And On Themselves by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Peace by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Paudeen by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Parting by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Parnell’s Funeral by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Parnell by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• Owen Aherne And His Dancers by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• On Woman by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• On Being Asked For A War Poem by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats
• On A Political Prisoner by William Butler Yeats by William Butler Yeats

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Doska or the Board – write anything

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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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