Mock Orange
by Louise Glück
It is not the moon, I tell you.
It is these flowers
lighting the yard.
I hate them.
I hate them as I hate sex,
the man’s mouth
sealing my mouth, the man’s
paralyzing body —
and the cry that always escapes,
the low, humiliating
premise of union —
In my mind tonight
I hear the question and pursuing answer
fused in one sound
that mounts and mounts and then
is split into the old selves,
the tired antagonisms. Do you see?
We were made fools of.
And the scent of mock orange
drifts through the window.
How can I rest?
How can I be content
when there is still
that odor in the world?
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Either way, no one looks up. Everyone just pushes ahead, and the smell of the past is everywhere,
the thyme and rosemary rubbing against your clothes,
the smell of too many illusions—
Louise Glück, “Sunrise” from A Village Life: Poems
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Louise Glück, from “Marathon.”
[Text ID: Then you kissed me—I felt hot wax on my forehead. I wanted it to leave a mark: that's how I knew I loved you. Because I wanted to be burned, stamped, to have something in the end.]
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whatever was left, that was ours for a while.
sunrise - louise glück
LizzieOrmian.redbubble.com
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Sunrise, Louise Glück
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Louise Glück, from "Persephone the Wanderer", Averno
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Averno, Louise Glück
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snowdrops by Louise Glück
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October, Louise Glück
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Louise Glück, from Persephone The Wanderer in "Poems 1962-2012"
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louise glück was an tremendous poet in her own life and also taught, advised, and nurtured uncountable other poets. her picking richard siken’s crush for the yale younger poets prize is a well known fact, but she selected a number of other poets for publication during her tenure as the contest judge that i think are worth knowing.
peter streckfus, cuckoo (2003)
richard siken, crush (2004)
jay hopler, green squall (2005)
jessica fisher, frail-craft (2006)
fady joudah, the earth in the attic (2007)
arda collins, it is daylight (2008)
ken chen, juvenilia (2009)
katherine larson, radial symmetry (2010)
poetry is a community! read her—and also read the poets she wanted to promote.
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Louise Glück, from “Blue Rotunda.” [ID in alt text]
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Louise Glück, from "Blue Rotunda", Averno
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— Louise Glück, from “The Untrustworthy Speaker.”
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Louise Glück in her garden. “friends, conversations, gardens. daily life. it's what we have”
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Louise Glück, from “Stars”, Poems: 1962–2020
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