Meanwhile surely
there must be something
to say. Let's talk
of mittens: their uses
are manifold, cold
oppressors knitting
their threads into nets,
keep safe new fingers,
a balance of woolen
comforters, hand-wombs.
We can hold a mitten each
between us, let swing
the knotted flesh.
Watch them reach and grasp
at unguessed ghosts.
Can you see the glove
give ease to sore gums?
There must be something
to say. Look in the road:
a mitten, lost in speed.
"I was washing outside in the yard..." : poem by Osip Mandelstam (1921)
-
A poem by Osip Mandelstam, written in 1921. Russian original, recited (*ochin,
ochin* amateurishly) by me.
3 days ago
If you decide to send a poem to the Guardian, that's the one most likely to make it so far.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on the pffa challenge thread, this one's far more 'mainstream' than the others. It's also the one I like least - so predictable in the tricks it uses to evoke the required emotions.
ReplyDeleteHeh. Like I say, that's the one most likely to make it so far.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is - the poems will be sifted before they reach Matthew Sweeney. Have you ever seen a non-mainstream poem in that worskshop?
ReplyDelete