“It is convenient for the old men to blame Eve. To insist we are damned because a country girl talked to the snake one afternoon long ago. Children must starve in Somalia for that, and old women be abandoned in our greatest cities. It’s why we will finally be thrown into the lakes of molten lead. Because she was confused by happiness that first time anyone said she was beautiful. Nevertheless, she must be the issue, so people won’t notice that rocks and galaxies, mathematics and rust are also created in His image.” PeopleMenFirstsChildrenLongSaidCountryBeautifulGirlCitiesIssuesRocksFirst TimeMathematicsBlameConfusedThrownLakesOld ManAfternoonAbandonedLong AgoNeverthelessSnakesGalaxyConvenientOld WomanRustSomaliaCountry Girl Book:Collected Poems Source: Collected Poems
“I ask myself what is the sound of women? What is the word for that still thing I have hunted inside them for so long? Deep inside the avalanche of joy, the thing deeper in the dark, and deeper still in the bed where we are lost. Deeper, deeper down where a woman's heart is holding its breath, where something very far away in that body is becoming something we don't have a name for.” HeartLongStillsBodyJoyAsksNamesLostSoundWomenDarkBecomingBedBreathsDeeperFar AwayDeep InsideHuntedAvalanchesBecoming SomethingLong Deep Book:Refusing Heaven Source: Refusing Heaven
“Suddenly this defeat. This rain. The blues gone gray And the browns gone gray And yellow A terrible amber. In the cold streets Your warm body. In whatever room Your warm body. Among all the people Your absence The people who are always Not you. I have been easy with trees Too long. Too familiar with mountains. Joy has been a habit. Now Suddenly This rain.” PeopleLongHas BeensBodyJoyEasyRoomsGoneTreeStreetsColdHabitTerribleMountainRainDefeatWarmAbsenceFamiliarGrayYellowAmberYour Absence Author:Jack Gilbert
“THE ABANDONED VALLEY Can you understand being alone so long you would go out in the middle of the night and put a bucket into the well so you could feel something down there tug at the other end of the rope?” FeelsWellsLongEndsNightMiddleValleysAbandonedRopeBucketsMiddle Of The NightLonliness Book:Collected Poems Source: Collected Poems
