outside, in the rain, we love
with our hands tied,
while things tear away at us.
--goldfish are ordinary, cassarino
as if banishing love is a fix. as if the stars go out when we shut our sleepy eyes
-- d. a. powell
call me rough, ill-tempered, slovenly— I tell you,
every tenderness I have ever known
has been nothing
but thwarted violence, an ache
so permanent and deep, the lightest touch
awakens it. . . . It is impossible
to care enough.
...
I smile and bow, and the world is loud.
And though I dare not lean in to shout
Can't you see that I'm deaf? —
I also cannot stop listening.
--Ludwig Van Beethoven's Return to Vienna
by Rita Dove
ash @ 12:07 AM