In the back of the charm-box, in a sack, the baby
canines and incisors are mostly chaff,
by now, split kernels and acicular down, no
whole utensils left: half
an adz; half a shovel, in its broken
handle a marrow well of the will
to dig and bite. And the enamel hems
are sharp as shell-tools, and the colors go from
salt, to bone, to pee on snow, to
sun on pond-ice embedded with twigs
and chipped-off skate-blade. One cuspid
is like the tail of an ivory chough
on my grandmother's what-not in a gravure on my mother's
bureau in my father's house in my head,
I think it's our daughter's, but the dime Hermes
mingled the deciduals of our girl and boy, safe-
keeping them together with the note that says
Dear Toth Farry, Plees Giv Me
A Bag of Moany. I pore over the shards,
a skeleton-lover—but who could throw out
these short pints of osseus breastmilk,
or the wisdom, with its charnel underside,
and its dome, smooth and experienced,
ground in anger, rinsed in silver
when the mouth waters. From above, its knurls
are a cusp-ring of mountain tops
around an amber crevasse, where in high
summer the summit wildflowers open
for a day—Crown Buttercup, Alpine Flames,
Shooting-Star, Rosy Fairy Lantern,
Cream Sacs, Sugar Scoop.
Sharon, such an interesting write.. congrats for bring selected... a big 19+++
Shooting-Star, Rosy Fairy Lantern, Cream Sacs, Sugar Scoop.....great!
i like how here, as in other poems by olds, she turns her gaze on things domestic. besides the charm of the child's note, the poem is dense with vivid description which reminds me in its craft of sylvia plath. cool! -gk
A writer can write about anything and turn it into an extraordinary event for every one who reads it. That is superb writing abilities at work to be able to do that with teeth! ! !
What else does a child want but to dream. Though technology is now taking over all of the simple sweetness from childhood. Written beautifully taking me back.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Stunning work. Nothing more need be said accept, thx for posting this charmer.: -)))