Baby Picture Poem by Anne Sexton

Baby Picture

Rating: 3.2


It's in the heart of the grape
where that smile lies.
It's in the good-bye-bow in the hair
where that smile lies.
It's in the clerical collar of the dress
where that smile lies.
What smile?
The smile of my seventh year,
caught here in the painted photograph.

It's peeling now, age has got it,
a kind of cancer of the background
and also in the assorted features.
It's like a rotten flag
or a vegetable from the refrigerator,
pocked with mold.
I am aging without sound,
into darkness, darkness.

Anne,
who are you?

I open the vein
and my blood rings like roller skates.
I open the mouth
and my teeth are an angry army.
I open the eyes
and they go sick like dogs
with what they have seen.
I open the hair
and it falls apart like dust balls.
I open the dress
and I see a child bent on a toilet seat.
I crouch there, sitting dumbly
pushing the enemas out like ice cream,
letting the whole brown world
turn into sweets.

Anne,
who are you?

Merely a kid keeping alive.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Jerry Wells 11 December 2017

ALL BABY'S SHOULD BE LOVE BE EVERYONE

11 5 Reply
Jerry Wells 11 December 2017

BABY SHOULDS ALWAYS LOOK LOVELY ON THEY PICTURE

8 5 Reply
Anas Affan 21 September 2016

nice imagination.............beautiful thought....thanks for sharing

9 4 Reply
Aisha Masha 15 December 2016

This nice poem gives me imagination of a young family. Well done.

8 3 Reply
Soumya Ranjan Rout 18 September 2017

This poem is touched my heart

0 0
Dr Antony Theodore 01 November 2020

I open the vein and my blood rings like roller skates. I open the mouth and my teeth are an angry army. wonder about the mind of this poetess. tony

1 0 Reply
kameran 25 September 2019

good poem great poem

3 1 Reply
Sultan Mian 27 July 2018

Love Marriage! ! 9306549644! ! (+91) Sai Sultan Mian Molana Sahib Ji Specialist

4 7 Reply

Deep, I love this poem!

4 5 Reply
Jerry Wells 19 December 2017

A BABY SHOULD BE THE ONE PERSON WE LOVE

13 11 Reply
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Anne Sexton

Anne Sexton

Newton, Massachusetts
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