Section: «Poems»

Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings: artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.); a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").

When You Thought Me Poor

When you thought me poor,my poverty was shaming.When blackness was unwelcomewe found it bestthat I stay home.When by the miracleof fierce dreaming..

© Alice Walker

The Ways Of Water

With your unknownto meOdd magicYou cameTo me:Your truckBackfiringAs if sendingOutRocketsTo theStarsYou cameInSo gracefullyRocketsSilencedBehind you..

© Alice Walker

The Tree Of Life Has Fallen

The tree of lifehas fallen on my small house.I thought it was so much bigger!But it is not.There in the distance I see the mountainsstill.The view of..

© Alice Walker

Our Martyr

When the peoplehave won a victorywhether smallor largedo you ever wonderat that momentwhere the martyrsmight be?They who sacrificedthemselvesto bring..

© Alice Walker

Knowing You Might Some Day Come

Knowing you might some day comeand how unprepared I’ve alwaysbeenlike Mr. Sloppyin Charles Dickens’our Mutual FriendI made a list:not meat..

© Alice Walker

When You See Water

When you see water in a streamyou say: oh, this is streamwater;When you see water in the riveryou say: oh, this is waterof the river;When you see..

© Alice Walker

Before I Leave The Stage

Before I leave the stageI will sing the only songI was meant truly to sing.It is the songof I AM.Yes: I am Me&You.WE ARE.I love Us with every..

© Alice Walker

If I Was President

If I was PresidentThe first thing I would dois call Mumia Abu-Jamal.No,if I was presidentthe first thing I would dois call Leonard Peltier.No,if I..

© Alice Walker

Don’t Be Like Those Who Ask For Everything

Don’t be like those who ask for everything:praise, a blurb, a free ride in my rentedlimousine. They ask for everything but never offeranything in..

© Alice Walker

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

Did you ever understand this?If my spirit was poor, how could I enter heaven?Was I depressed?Understanding editing,I see how a comma, removed or..

© Alice Walker

Remember

RememberWhen we endedIt all-for a weekend-& howWe knew?You tookThe tea bowlThat IBrokeInCarelessnessTo glue togetherAgainAt yourHouse.

© Alice Walker

Going Out To The Garden

Going out to the gardenthis morningto plant seedsfor my winter greens-the strong, fiery mustard& the milderbroadleaf turnip-I saw a geckowholike..

© Alice Walker

A Picture Story For The Curious

(You supply the pictures!)I get to meditatein a chair!Or against the wallwith my legsstretched out!(Or even in bed!)I get to seemaybe halfof what I'm..

© Alice Walker

Be Nobody's Darling

Be nobody's darling;Be an outcast.Take the contradictionsOf your lifeAnd wrap aroundYou like a shawl,To parry stonesTo keep you warm.Watch the people..

© Alice Walker

Torture

When they torture your motherplant a treeWhen they torture your fatherplant a treeWhen they torture your brotherand your sisterplant a treeWhen they..

© Alice Walker

I Will Keep Broken Things

I will keepBrokenThings:The big clayPotWith raisedIguanasChasingTheirTails;TwoOf theirWiseHeadsShearedOff;I will keepBrokenthings:The..

© Alice Walker

Desire

My desireis always the same; wherever Lifedeposits me:I want to stick my toe& soon my whole bodyinto the water.I want to shake out a fat..

© Alice Walker

Expect Nothing

Expect nothing. Live frugallyOn surprise.become a strangerTo need of pityOr, if compassion be freelyGiven outTake only enoughStop short of urge to..

© Alice Walker

In Midas' Country

Meadows of gold dust. The silverCurrents of the Connecticut fanAnd meander in bland pleatings underRiver-verge farms where rye-heads whiten.All's..

© Sylvia Plath

New Year On Dartmoor

This is newness : every little tawdryObstacle glass-wrapped and peculiar,Glinting and clinking in a saint's falsetto. Only youDon't know what to make..

© Sylvia Plath

Yaddo : The Grand Manor

Woodsmoke and a distant loudspeakerFilter into this clearAir, and blur.The red tomato's in, the green bean;The cook lugs a pumpkinFrom the vineFor..

© Sylvia Plath

Incommunicado

The groundhog on the mountain did not runBut fatly scuttled into the splayed fernAnd faced me, back to a ledge of dirt, to rattleHer sallow rodent..

© Sylvia Plath

On Deck

Midnight in the mid-Atlantic. On deck.Wrapped up in themselves as in thick veilingAnd mute as mannequins in a dress shop,Some few passangers keep..

© Sylvia Plath

Natural History

That lofty monarch, Monarch Mind,Blue-blooded in coarse country reigned;Though he bedded in ermine, gorged on roast,Pure Philosophy his love..

© Sylvia Plath

Mussel Hunter At Rock Harbor

I came before the water —-Colorists came to get theGood of the Cape light that scoursSand grit to sided crystalAnd buffs and sleeks the blunt hullsOf..

© Sylvia Plath