VARIANT ON A LINE OF HUGHES
"The sea cri es with its meaningless vo ice."
Wha t, then , could the sea's meanin g be?
An ermined cape for some rest ing deit y?
Vi sible accompa niment to our sorrows, fea rs ,
V aster tha n Bluebeard's self-refl ectin g la ke of tears?
Wha t poe try we could ma ke from so trim a fit–
Each metapho r a proof for the tru th of it.
But outmeaning the meanin gs fa ncy can congeal
Throngs a t the ea r the tidebeat of the rea l.
Anne Stevenson
WOUNDS
The wo rld is the world
but we a sk it the wrong ques tion s .
JiVlzat have you done to me?
VVIry
have you hurt
me~
Its full stop hangs from our necks
like a pitted moon .
JiVlzat is the use oj
it.~
Why do I
su1fer.~
As each cra ter widens in a lase r wreath
letting in the unbea rable li ght.
