Part Of Speech Poem by Joseph Brodsky

Part Of Speech

Rating: 2.9


...and when "the future" is uttered, swarms of mice
rush out of the Russian language and gnaw a piece
of ripened memory which is twice
as hole-ridden as real cheese.
After all these years it hardly matters who
or what stands in the corner, hidden by heavy drapes,
and your mind resounds not with a seraphic "doh",
only their rustle. Life, that no one dares
to appraise, like that gift horse's mouth,
bares its teeth in a grin at each
encounter. What gets left of a man amounts
to a part. To his spoken part. To a part of speech.


Translated by Author

Anonymous submission.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Sylvia Frances Chan 08 January 2022

Absolute excellent poem by the great Brodsky. His way of telling the poem, makes the poem more attractive and becomes A THOUGHT-PROVOKING Poem

0 0 Reply
Liza Sudina 23 November 2015

To his spoken part. To a part of speech. - I admire, Joseph, your ability to raise a person or a reader from material to spiritual heights- such abstract as a part of speech.

0 1 Reply
Brian Jani 09 May 2014

Joseph I like this one.nice work

0 1 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success