My darling friend Christina found my other favorite poem--so here it is:
This House I Cannot Leave
by Barbara Kingslover
My friend describes the burglar:
how he touched her clothes, passed through rooms
leaving himself there,
staining the space
between walls, a thing she can see.
She doesn’t care what he took, only
that he has driven her out, she can’t
stay in this house
she loved, scraped the colors of four families
from the walls and painted with her own,
and planted things.
She is leaving fruit trees behind.
She will sell, get out. maybe
another neighborhood.
People say
Get over it. THe market isn’t good. The advise
that she think about cash to mortgage
and the fruit trees
but the trees have stopped growing for her.
I ofer no advice.
I tell her I know, she will leave. I am thinking
of the man who broke and entered
me.
Of the years it took to be home again
in this house I cannot leave.
Love Kingsolver--thanks! Have you read her novels?
ReplyDeleteI have never read kinsolver before but now after reading this poem i am interested to see what else I can find and get my hands on. I really loved the first stanza that she opened up with because I could already pictures something in my head and the overall message was clear. Great poem and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this author/poet before, but this poem is great. Never before have I seen a rape compared to a burglary, but the metaphor works perfectly. I'm sure the narrator wishes she could up and move like her friend, but unfortunately, she will be stuck in that body forever.
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