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YOU’RE FREE AT LAST, YOU’RE FREE AT LAST, GOD ALMIGHTY, YOU’RE FREE AT LAST
You’re free at last. Get away from my face. You’re free, and all attachments of every kind are gone, No more, no more, the slavish pleadings of my gender and my race. Get out. Take yourself from my...
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NOW IT’S DONE
You’ve read Cosmopolitan, the tips on sex, The clothes and lubricants are yours; You’ve purchased the right perfumes, You’ve wandered through the hotels and the hotel rooms, Rejected the handsome...
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AMY IS NOT ENOUGH
Amy is not enough; I also want Sue, Stella, Laura, Beatrice—because I can’t have you. Stoop down, read the whole list, and if you’re not there, Stooping has not been in vain—not listed belongs to the...
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THE ELECTION IS ALWAYS
The election is always between the living and the dead. Bill Clinton or Vince Foster? I vote for one in my head. I love conspiracy videos. Human nature is really dark. The nice ones end it all in a...
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SHE IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU
She is more beautiful than you, Who copied your poem, And the theft has made you famous, You, who, yesterday, were completely unknown As if the poem had never existed. But the fate of beauty is always...
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NOW IS THE SAD DECLINE
Now is the sad decline Of everything that’s mine: The frozen ground that was my hope, You, who I held onto, and the rope Swing that sang over the valley, Its green more green than green, A vista that...
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AFTER THAT LONG PAUSE
After that long pause, It felt like we had nothing more to say; Acutely, I felt the separation, As if now you and I each belonged to a different day: I said something, and suddenly you didn’t want to...
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THERE IS A GREATER DESPAIR
There is a greater despair Than being sad here right now. The nurses and soldiers can tell you how The massacre made so many unhappy. Others somewhere are sick and not feeling well. You cannot imagine...
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NIXON’S COMING. IT’S HILLARY
Something is happening to the American electorate. It’s getting very old. The American progressive is now an old person, no longer excitable, but quietly pleased by issues that excite: All races and...
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CRY ME A RIVER
Ah, you will always be that egotist Who I met, befriended, and kissed, And all the rest, though I felt you would fall Back into that state where you had no personality at all. And I will always be...
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NEEDING TO SAY EVERYTHING I MUST RIP AWAY
Needing to say everything, I must rip away The veil of poetry. I’m sorry, for that day, I’m sorry. I expected us to meet at the garage Because you texted me suggestively. But you also texted me you...
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POETRY IS WOMAN’S LANGUAGE
for forough farrokhzad She was dying of me, but I was her life. While I heard the blood rushing in her breasts, she was my wife. When she walked, with no place to go, I was in her thoughts. She longed...
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YOU READ TWO POEMS AT ONCE
You read two poems at once. The upper meaning wears a white suit, A beautiful suit, works in New York, Born in Louisiana, here are the black and white Photos of the parents. Instructions clear. Now...
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I GOT CONFUSED ONE DAY
It was an ordinary conversation. There was something I wanted to say As I looked at her as she talked. I got confused one day. She was beautiful, a good friend And I asked myself, what did I say? Why...
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DON’T FIX THE WORLD YET
Don’t fix the world yet. Its cries are my lover’s cries. When the ship is repaired, and sails My secret happiness dies. Errors you see on street and pier Keep officials busy, and these sighs Are sad,...
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LEAVES ARE WAVING ABOVE THE SUN
Leaves are waving above the sun In paintings, in gardens, in the harsh outdoors Which afflict the eyes of everyone. You brought me flowers, not for my hands But for my eyes, Eyes blind from love, not...
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WHEN IT’S HOT AND THE SUMMER SOUNDS
When it’s hot and the summer sounds Vibrate like heat itself, you think Maybe you are done with poetry, Which sits silently on the page In code, not really communicating your wisdom and rage. When...
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BE KIND TO HER WHO DOESN’T KNOW
Be kind to her who doesn’t know What snow is; my world is under snow. Be kind to her who doesn’t understand The body; I found my brain in my hand. Be kind to her who thought men Might possibly make...
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MENTION THE PLACE I’M FROM
Mention the place I’m from, The cave in the forest; mention that sometimes I danced The folk dances, the strange hopping to the primitive drum. And that I composed sixteen modernist sonnets, Which...
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BEING WANTED
Being wanted is the greatest satisfaction! Smile! The hungry can take no action Against your jewels and rings. The hungry listen patiently while your beauty sings. You are fed and satisfied When...
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