Saturday, May 3, 2014

Hope

Soon he will be a child again.
You can see it happening
in his book of dogs and cats
and his luckless fate with women.

He begins and ends with nothing
but the only woman who loved
discoveries, even each of his lies.
He loved to watch the light in her child’s face.

And Minerva and Sam, which one is
eagle, which one turtle, female and male,
sky god or goddess, which one earth mover
turning up nothing that is not itself . . .

To accompany the child, the sinner.
Who needs to be good once you are happy,
or saintlike to rid yourself of evil . . .
Her name meant hope, but he never knew why.

In hope something exists that is not here,
where a man thinks he can know when love ends,
as for Emily Dickinson life ends
to give her transport to the other sphere.

(3 May 2014)

copyright 2014 by Floyce Alexander

1 comment:

  1. Was surprised by the Emily Dickinson reference. It caused the poem to metamorphose into a different kind of poem than what I thought I was reading. Nice,

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