23.4.07

five poems / five days #1

Jane Kenyon

What Came to Me


I took the last
dusty piece of china
out of the barrel.
It was your gravy boat,
with a hard, brown
drop of gravy still
on the porcelain lip.
I grieved for you then
as I never had before.

*

The brilliance of Kenyon’s poem is the reality of this image of grief, of loss, in such a compact form.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I like her work lots. Bite-sized poems but huge implications, layers.

Rachel Mallino said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachel Mallino said...

If I knew how to spell I wouldn't have had to delete that previous post - it's early! Love this, Sam. Her wonderful breaks allow the brevity to work its magic. Thanks for this one.

Collin Kelley said...

I always admire these short, sharp poems. Jane was a master.