Words, Wide Night Poem by Carol Ann Duffy

Words, Wide Night

Rating: 4.6


Somewhere on the other side of this wide night
and the distance between us, I am thinking of you.
The room is turning slowly away from the moon.

This is pleasurable. Or shall I cross that out and say
it is sad? In one of the tenses I singing
an impossible song of desire that you cannot hear.

La lala la. See? I close my eyes and imagine the dark hills I would have to cross
to reach you. For I am in love with you

and this is what it is like or what it is like in words.

Saturday, September 5, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: words
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Susan Williams 26 October 2015

I like this poet's voice- it is so innovative and fresh

36 2 Reply
Michael Morgan 05 September 2015

More should be heard from this magical lyricist.

6 2 Reply
Julian Sturgeon 02 April 2016

She has the gift of turning words into guided missiles; small neutron bombs of everyday passion.

5 2 Reply
Bill Wright 03 September 2016

An unusual poem from this poet, not one of her usual subjects.

4 3 Reply
Smoky Hoss 01 December 2022

A sublime display of how poetry is the best way to attempt transfiguring into words the human heart.

0 1 Reply
Anthony R P 15 November 2020

I once sent this poem to someone who I loved greatly. She wasn't on the other side of the world (only 150km away) but it was exactly how I felt. A beautiful poem.

2 0 Reply
Jeremy Newton 09 March 2020

It's not really poetry though, is it? Poets these days all seem to be speaking in the same voice, studiously avoiding any thing which smacks of metre or rhyme. Eliot was able to write so well in free verse, but I find that most 'modern' poets can't really do it.

2 13 Reply
John B 08 May 2019

I carried this poem around in my wallet for years as it summed up so much how I felt about a person in my life who lived in another country. Rereading it now reminds me of what I felt back then.

2 1 Reply
Becky Brown 30 August 2018

This is so beautifully and sadly romantic. It sums up how it feels to be in love with someone and apart from them. I love it.

3 3 Reply
Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy

Glasgow / Scotland
Close
Error Success