Theodore Roethke Water Poems
- 1. The Far Field
I
I dream of journeys repeatedly:
Of flying like a bat deep into a narrowing tunnel
... - 2. Big Wind
Where were the greenhouses going,
Lunging into the lashing
Wind driving water
So far down the river
... - 3. The Meadow Mouse
1
In a shoe box stuffed in an old nylon stocking
Sleeps the baby mouse I found in the meadow,
... - 4. The Shape Of The Fire
1
Whatâ??s this? A dish for fat lips.
Who says? A nameless stranger.
... - 5. The Geranium
When I put her out, once, by the garbage pail,
She looked so limp and bedraggled,
So foolish and trusting, like a sick poodle,
Or a wizened aster in late September,
... - 6. The Visitant
1
A cloud moved close. The bulk of the wind shifted.
... - 7. Elegy For Jane
(My student, thrown by a horse)
I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils;
And her quick look, a sidelong pickerel smile;
... - 8. She
I think the dead are tender. Shall we kiss? --
My lady laughs, delighting in what is.
If she but sighs, a bird puts out its tongue.
She makes space lonely with a lovely song.
... - 9. The Storm
1
Against the stone breakwater,
Only an ominous lapping,
...
