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For the Dead by Adrienne Rich

5/17/2008 9:15:45 AM
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Adrienne Rich
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For the Dead
 
  I dreamed I called you on the telephone
to say: Be kinder to yourself
but you were sick and would not answer

The waste of my love goes on this way
trying to save you from yourself

I have always wondered about the left-over
energy, the way water goes rushing down a hill
long after the rains have stopped

or the fire you want to go to bed from
but cannot leave, burning-down but not burnt-down
the red coals more extreme, more curious
in their flashing and dying
than you wish they were
sitting long after midnight

Adrienne Rich


Read poems about / on: sick, water, red, fire, love, rain, dream

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Amberlee Carter (2/16/2006 4:14:00 PM)
I want this poem on the little pamlets that will get handed out at my funeral.
My God, it's amazing!
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5/17/2008 9:15:45 AM. You Are Here: For the Dead by Adrienne Rich

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