Anne Sexton Poems

Anger,
as black as a hook,
overtakes me.
Each day,
...

In my dream,
drilling into the marrow
of my entire bone,
my real dream,
...

Anna who was mad,
I have a knife in my armpit.
When I stand on tiptoe I tap out messages.
Am I some sort of infection?
...

It is in the small things we see it.
The child's first step,
as awesome as an earthquake.
The first time you rode a bike,
...

Consider
a girl who keeps slipping off,
arms limp as old carrots,
into the hypnotist's trance,
...

Until tonight they were separate specialties,
different stories, the best of their own worst.
Riding my warm cabin home, I remember Betsy's
laughter; she laughed as you did, Rose, at the first
...

A born salesman,
my father made all his dough
by selling wool to Fieldcrest, Woolrich and Faribo.
...

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.
...

You always read about it:
the plumber with the twelve children
who wins the Irish Sweepstakes.
From toilets to riches.
...

Oh sharp diamond, my mother!
I could not count the cost
of all your faces, your moods-
that present that I lost.
...