Genevieve Taggard Poems

A middle class fortress in which to hide!
Draw down the curtain as if saying No,
While noon's ablaze, ablaze outside.
...

Now I am slow and placid, fond of sun,
Like a sleek beast, or a worn one,
No slim and languid girl – not glad
With the windy trip I once had,
...

Other hearts have broken gracefully, for your sake,
And now your eyes reproach me that my ache
Is awkward, and my arms
...

Now in the fright of change when bombed towns vanish
In fountains of debris
We say to the stranger coming across the sea
...

I will defy you down until my death
With cold body, indrawn breath;
Terrible and cruel I will move with you
Like a surly tiger. If you knew
...

Wishes are birds. You have been circled round
With them, invisible, I sent you in distress,
Flown from my heart that long had held them bound,
...

Withhold your breath!
Heavy in noon, and sleepy as slow death,
Garden of sweets and sours,
The cluster of my body hangs
...

This is our time.
We women and men
Here once and only once
Celebrate our time
...

In that day
Everyone will sing,
Everyone will play in that day;
There will be carolling.
...

I understand what you were running for,
Slim naked boy, and why from far inland
You came between dark hills. I know the roar
...