I first shared this back in 2012 during National Poetry Month. I was on my way to NYC to see some of the most beautiful people in the world. So, I shared a poem I love by a native New Yorker.
She passed away yesterday, a marvelous poet and teacher who graced this earth for 98 years. We cannot possibly be grateful enough.
A nice write up and an excellent Villanelle can be found here.
One Is One
Marie Ponsot
Heart, you bully, you punk, I’m wrecked, I’m shocked
stiff. You? you still try to rule the world–though
I’ve got you: identified, starving, locked
in a cage you will not leave alive, no
matter how you hate it, pound its walls,
& thrill its corridors with messages.
Brute. Spy. I trusted you. Now you reel & brawl
in your cell but I’m deaf to your rages,
your greed to go solo, your eloquent
threats of worse things you (knowing me) could do.
You scare me, bragging you’re a double agent
since jailers are prisoners’ prisoners too.
Think! Reform! Make us one. Join the rest of us,
and joy may come, and make its test of us.
