Pillow Poem by Li-Young Lee
Pillow
There's nothing I can't find under there.
Voices in the trees, the missing pages
of the sea.
Everything but sleep.
And night is a river bridging
the speaking and listening banks,
a fortress, undefended and inviolate.
There's nothing that won't fit under it:
fountains clogged with mud and leaves,
the houses of my childhood.
And night begins when my mother's fingers
let go of the thread
they've been tying and untying
to touch toward our fraying story's hem.
Night is the shadow of my father's hands
setting the clock for resurrection.
Or is it the clock unraveled, the numbers flown?
Ther's nothing that hasn't found home there:
discarded wings, lost shoes, a broken alphabet.
Everything but sleep. And night begins
with the first beheading
of the jasmine, its captive fragrance
rid at last of burial clothes.
Let me quote -There's nothing that won't fit under it: fountains clogged with mud and leaves, the houses of my childhood. And night begins when my mother's fingers let go of the thread they've been tying and untying to touch toward our fraying story's hem.
An amazing poem with beautiful imagery.No wonder it has been placed among top poems.
Myriad Stars for this gem of 16 years ago, and now on rank 35 in the List of Best Poems of Member Poets. CONGRATULASTIONS, dear Li-Young
A lovely poem from the Orient, poems of poets with saian background oftentimes create great calming proesy / prose.
The collection of poetry this poem comes from ' a book of my nights' is one of the best collections of poetry I have ever read. I always wonder who puts these poems up by the famous poets, I assume it's the webmaster, right? Anyway, I love this poem, it speaks to the spirit.... always, Amberlee
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/19/2024 12:21:24 AM # 1.0.0.1119
This is a beautiful piece of writing, Li-Young. I love the iumagery and the flow of this somnambulist poem is so calming. A pleasure to read.