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Lisel Mueller’s Followers (49)
Lisel Mueller
Born
in Hamburg, Germany
February 08, 1924
Died
February 21, 2020
Genre
|
Alive Together
—
published
1996
—
13 editions
|
|
|
The Need to Hold Still
—
published
1980
—
2 editions
|
|
|
Second Language: Poems
—
published
1986
—
3 editions
|
|
|
Waving from Shore: Poems
—
published
1989
—
4 editions
|
|
|
The Private Life: Poems (Louisiana Paperbacks; L-73)
—
published
1976
—
3 editions
|
|
|
Dependencies
—
published
1998
—
2 editions
|
|
|
Voices from the Forest
—
published
1977
—
6 editions
|
|
|
Learning to Play by Ear (Wnj Ser.: No. 26)
—
published
1990
—
5 editions
|
|
|
Learning to Play by Ear:Â Essays and Early Poems
|
|
|
Brief vom Ende der Welt: Ausgewählte Gedichte
|
|
“Late Hours"
On summer nights the world
moves within earshot
on the interstate with its swish
and growl, and occasional siren
that sends chills through us.
Sometimes, on clear, still nights,
voices float into our bedroom,
lunar and fragmented,
as if the sky had let them go
long before our birth.
In winter we close the windows
and read Chekhov,
nearly weeping for his world.
What luxury, to be so happy
that we can grieve
over imaginary lives.”
―
On summer nights the world
moves within earshot
on the interstate with its swish
and growl, and occasional siren
that sends chills through us.
Sometimes, on clear, still nights,
voices float into our bedroom,
lunar and fragmented,
as if the sky had let them go
long before our birth.
In winter we close the windows
and read Chekhov,
nearly weeping for his world.
What luxury, to be so happy
that we can grieve
over imaginary lives.”
―
“How swiftly the strained honey
of afternoon light
flows into darkness
and the closed bud shrugs off
its special mystery
in order to break into blossom:
as if what exists, exists
so that it can be lost
and become precious”
― Alive Together
of afternoon light
flows into darkness
and the closed bud shrugs off
its special mystery
in order to break into blossom:
as if what exists, exists
so that it can be lost
and become precious”
― Alive Together
“Tears
The first woman who ever wept
was appalled at what stung
her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Saltwater. Seawater.
How was it possible?
Hadn't she and the man
spent many days moving
upland to where the grass
flourished, where the stream
quenched their thirst with sweet water?
How could she have carried these sea drops
as if they were precious seeds;
where could she have stowed them?
She looked at the watchful gazelles
and the heavy-lidded frogs;
she looked at glass-eyed birds
and nervous, black-eyed mice.
None of them wept, not even the fish
that dripped in her hands when she caught them.
Not even the man. Only she
carried the sea inside her body.”
― Alive Together
The first woman who ever wept
was appalled at what stung
her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Saltwater. Seawater.
How was it possible?
Hadn't she and the man
spent many days moving
upland to where the grass
flourished, where the stream
quenched their thirst with sweet water?
How could she have carried these sea drops
as if they were precious seeds;
where could she have stowed them?
She looked at the watchful gazelles
and the heavy-lidded frogs;
she looked at glass-eyed birds
and nervous, black-eyed mice.
None of them wept, not even the fish
that dripped in her hands when she caught them.
Not even the man. Only she
carried the sea inside her body.”
― Alive Together
Topics Mentioning This Author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Into the Forest: Adult Fairy Tale Reading List | 17 | 387 | Mar 02, 2015 07:20PM |
