David Ignatow Death Poems
- 1. Walt Whitman In The Civil War Hospitals
Prescient, my hands soothing
their foreheads, by my love
I earn them. in their presence
I am wretched as death. They smile
... - 2. Ritual One
As I enter the theatre the play is going on.
I hear the father say to the son on stage,
Youâ??ve taken the motor apart.
The son replies, The roof is leaking.
... - 3. The Journey
I am looking for a past
I can rely on
in order to look to death
with equanimity.
... - 4. If We Could Be Brought
If we could be brought to the surface
like a gleaming fish and served for supper,
if we could eat and swallow our own life
to make a good meal, if we could go fishing
... - 5. An Ecology
We drop in the evening like dew
upon the ground and the living
feel it on their faces. Death
soft, moist everywhere upon us,
... - 6. My Skeleton, My Rival
Interesting that I have to live with my skeleton.
It stands, prepared to emerge, and I carry it
with meâ??this other thing I will become at death,
and yet it keeps me erect and limber in my walk,
...
