Lines to a Poet

Lines to a Poet by Josephine Jacobsen Be careful what you say to us now. The street-lamp is smashed, the window is jagged, There is a man dead in his blood by the base of the fountain. If you speak, You cannot be delicate or sad or clever. Some other hour, in a moist April, We will consider similes for the budding larches. You can teach our wits and our fancy then; By a green-lit midnight in your study We will delve into your sparkling rock. But now at dreadful high noon You may speak only to our heart, Our honor and our need: Saying such things as, “See, she is alive . . . “ Or “Here is water,” or “Look behind you!” Josephine Jacobsen (19 August 1908 – 9 July 2003) was a Canadian-born American poet, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She was appointed the twenty-first Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1971.[2] In 1997, she received the Poetry Society of America’s highest award, the Robert Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry. More about her here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/josephine-jacobsen Music and performance ©2020 by Scott Taylor