POOR LADY, POOR LADY

POOR LADY, POOR LADYRodrigo (again!) sent me this beautiful poem by the great Louise Glück, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature. I love to receive these gorgeous golden mice to my doorstep. It feels like The Stuff Page is curated by a community! Thank you, Rodrigo for such a wonderful poem. Love Susie. x

 

Penelope's Stubbornness

 

A bird comes to the window. It's a mistake

to think of them

as birds, they are so often

messengers. That is why, once they

plummet to the sill, to mock

patience, lifting their heads to sing

poor lady, poor lady, their three-note

warning, later flying

like a dark cloud from the sill to the olive grove.

But who would send such a weightless being

to judge my life? My thoughts are deep

and my memory long; why would I envy such freedom

when I have humanity? Those

with the smallest hearts have

the greatest freedom.

 

Louise Glück

From poems 1962-2012