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Bereaved

Text of Poem

Granted, a meeting with her,
on the steps, in the hall, or a
room, granted too, an occasion,
return of a book, a business talk,
casual invitation, what occurred
seemed on the surface scarcely
worth mentioning. She made up
a smile, off hand greeting, an eddy
in the day’s tide. But out of her words
welled tears, grief of eyes overflowing,
cheeks caught in the grimace of the
lonely of heart.
I told her there is the sudden break
called death, and the long suffering
called death, and we are not free
to choose, the end is the same.
Only you can speak for your lonely bed.
You cannot depend on us, the day comes
when you make your wailing wall private,
not to be seen by family or friends,
you keep your passion to yourself,
let the wound heal slowly.


But she was not comforted.

First Line
Granted, a meeting with her,
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1978
Original Citation
The American Scholar (Summer 1978) 356.
Complete Poems
347
Hearst Collections
Word Count
146
Manuscript

Permission to reproduce work from the James Hearst Papers has been granted by the Special Collections Department of the University of Iowa Libraries.

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