In the old days a poet once said (Ko)

In the old days a poet once said
our nation is destroyed
yet the mountains and rivers survive

Today's poet says
the mountains and rivers are destroyed
yet our nation survives

Tomorrow's poet will say
the mountains and rivers are destroyed
our nation is destroyed and Alas!
you and I are completely destroyed

Ko Un

Milestone

I feel it worth remarking that I have hit the milestone of 10,000 poems written and posted on this site.

That ain't nothing.

The Prisoner (Das)

As the convict studies
his prison's geography
I study the trappings
of your body, dear love,
for I must some day find
an escape from its snare.

Kamala Das, "The Prisoner"

Never once (Oliver)

The god of dirt
came up to me many times and said
so many wise and delectable things, I      lay
on the grass listening
to his dog voice,
crow voice,
frog voice; now,
he said, and now,
and never once mentioned forever...

Mary Oliver, from "One or Two Things"

Words (Orr)

I always supposed
It was words
I was after—
Those
Shining fish
The poem's net gets.
But who knows?
Maybe it was
The sea
Itself
I was trying
To haul on deck.

Gregory Orr, from "Ode to Words"

Anybody's wish (Shapiro)

To make the world perfect and full of splendor.
Was this indeed anybody's wish?

Harvey Shapiro, from "World"

For what? (Shapiro)

It's my younger self,
confused, desperate, wanting
another chance.  For what? I ask,
for what?

Harvey Shapiro, from "The Old Man Has One Thought And Then Another"

How much (Wei)

How much can hurt the heart
in one life's span

Wang Wei, from "Lamenting white hairs"

Reality & dreams (Sŭng-Hŭi)

Reality precedes dreams,
and then dreams destroy reality.

Kim Sŭng-Hŭi, "Sun Mass"

Finger to a button (Lang)

The man stands opposite a nation
Thoughts of going nuclear
Bring his finger to a button on his jacket

Meng Lang, from "Facing a Nation"

The tyrant king (Fowles)

The eyes of the tyrant king
Who sees nothing, nothing, in each hope,
And nothing in each past but lies.

John Fowles, from "An Old Draft"

Always divided (Merwin)

what I live for I can seldom believe in
who I love I cannot go to
what I hope is always divided

W. S. Merwin, from "Teachers"

How (Wright)

How are we capable of so much love
for things that must fall away?

Charles Wright, from "December Journal"

Keep going (Rilke)

Let everything happen to you:  beauty and      terror.
Just keep going.  No feeling is final.

Rainer Maria Rilke, from "Go To The Limits Of Your Longing"

Still (Saigyō)

At the roadside
Where a clear stream bubbles
In the shade of the willows,
"Just for a while," I said,
And still have not gone.

Priest Saigyō

The synthesis (Gunn)

What could I do but seek the synthesis
As each man does, of what his nature is?

Thom Gunn, from "Merlin in the Cave: He Speculates without a Book"

The barbarians (Cavafy)

Why isn’t anything going on in the senate?
Why are the senators sitting there without legislating?

Because the barbarians are coming today.
What’s the point of senators making laws now?
Once the barbarians are here, they’ll do the legislating.

C. P. Cavafy, from "Waiting for the Barbarians"

Locks (Stallings)

As we shut each door,
It locks: we cannot enter anymore.

A. E. Stallings, from "Lost and Found"

Update (Hoagland)

So much depends
upon

a red multi-
corporation

glazed with
tax credits

beside the white
politicians.

Tony Hoagland, "Update"

Still don't understand (Hoagland)

I said, "Love me better or go to hell."
I said, "I will forgive when I am good and ready."
I said, "Rumors of my happiness have been greatly exaggerated."
I still don't understand why what I give and what I get back in return never seem to weigh the same.

Tony Hoagland, from "Misunderstandings"