Thursday, February 02, 2006

Silent Poetry Reading

Here's a one-day-only meme that's a winner. Started by Grace's Poppies.

"Litany" by Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine.
Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass,
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is no way you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of the rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley,
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's teacup.
But don't worry, I am not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and -- somehow --
the wine.

5 Comments:

Blogger amandazen said...

Great poem I am not familiar with Billy Collins thank you for introducing me.

Amanda

3:28 PM  
Blogger Jennifer said...

Lovely poem! I hope we all have someone in our lives that could be the wine. (I mean nice, good, wine, not that stuff in a box.) ;)

5:52 PM  
Blogger Olga said...

That's going to be my new favorite poem! Loved it! Ok, I'm going off now to find one of my own...maybe with wine in it, to keep the theme going (and maybe with some wine!).

7:08 PM  
Blogger chittavrtti said...

*chuckle*chuckle* :) I can so hear the voices of certain people I know and see their facial expressions as I read that. Thank you ***CV

11:34 PM  
Blogger chris said...

I'm not familiar with Billy Collins, either, but I loved the poem. Thank you for sharing! I love this idea of a silent poetry reading, too. I'm off to read Olga's wine selection! ;-) Take care, Laura! :-)

3:23 AM  

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