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A Slower Music

For Diane

  • Time runs thru my fingers,
  • laughter & feathers
  • against her lips
  • when I bend to kiss her
  • She is my wonder, who sleeps
  • & will not wake for me
  • but with her tongue brings me bread,
  • to eat love in a whisper
  • I know her as we know the poor,
  • by their houses, measuring
  • the empty shelves or the glass
  • thru a door that never closes
  • Everything is still again
  • where my love’s waiting
  • the door swings back in place
  • & the hinges rest
  • If it is night we are close
  • if it is morning the sun won’t stay hidden
  • will you wake for me again?
  • the lost bells cry in sleep
  • Yes, the lost bells cry in sleep

Jerome Rothenberg, a leading exponent of American avant-garde poetry, is the author of a large number of poetry collections, has done important literary translations from German, Spanish, and other languages, and is the editor of several seminal anthologies of traditional, contemporary and world poetry, including Technicians of the Sacred (tribal and oral poetry from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania); Shaking the Pumpkin (traditional American Indian poetry); America a Prophecy (a fresh reading of the poetries of the North American continent, co-edited with George Quasha); Revolution of the Word (American experimental poetry between the two world wars); and Poems for the Millennium (three volumes of experimental modernism and romanticism, with Pierre Joris and Jeffrey C. Robinson). “A Slower Music” is from his collection Poems for the Game of Silence, published by Dial Press (1971) and New Directions (1975), and is reprinted by permission of the author.

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For Diane

  • Time runs thru my fingers,
  • laughter & feathers
  • against her lips
  • when I bend to kiss her
  • She is my wonder, who sleeps
  • & will not wake for me
  • but with her tongue brings me bread,
  • to eat love in a whisper
  • I know her as we know the poor,
  • by their houses, measuring
  • the empty shelves or the glass
  • thru a door that never closes
  • Everything is still again
  • where my love’s waiting
  • the door swings back in place
  • & the hinges rest
  • If it is night we are close
  • if it is morning the sun won’t stay hidden
  • will you wake for me again?
  • the lost bells cry in sleep
  • Yes, the lost bells cry in sleep

Jerome Rothenberg, a leading exponent of American avant-garde poetry, is the author of a large number of poetry collections, has done important literary translations from German, Spanish, and other languages, and is the editor of several seminal anthologies of traditional, contemporary and world poetry, including Technicians of the Sacred (tribal and oral poetry from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania); Shaking the Pumpkin (traditional American Indian poetry); America a Prophecy (a fresh reading of the poetries of the North American continent, co-edited with George Quasha); Revolution of the Word (American experimental poetry between the two world wars); and Poems for the Millennium (three volumes of experimental modernism and romanticism, with Pierre Joris and Jeffrey C. Robinson). “A Slower Music” is from his collection Poems for the Game of Silence, published by Dial Press (1971) and New Directions (1975), and is reprinted by permission of the author.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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