The Past
by Sharon Portnoff
Riding a wave of joy I’d forgotten my memory which she says, of course,
Can lead to pleasure (“The Forgiven Past”).
Well, yes, this is the recompense of the thinking class: ten feet above ground
In search of water for the well-wrought urn.
It makes for many mistakes but also
For victories, mostly small, which we like to claim as Human, Feminine,
For some claque of would-be admirers and customers of our paltry books.
Riding taught Auden when he was young and (per Rexroth) most able.
She stopped writing when she knew (before Auden) that poetry makes nothing
Happen:
Oh, nothing! — where are you?
Copyright © 2013 by Sharon Portnoff.
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