Thursday, March 22, 2012

to slaughter memory






VII
The Verdict


The word landed with a stony thud 
Onto my still-beating breast. 
Nevermind, I was prepared, 
I will manage with the rest.

I have a lot of work to do today; 
I need to slaughter memory, 
Turn my living soul to stone 
Then teach myself to live again…

But how. The hot summer rustles 
Like a carnival outside my window; 
I have long had this premonition 
Of a bright day and a deserted house.






~ Anna Akhmatova
excerpt from Requiem, 
taken from The Complete Poems
with thanks to journal of a nobody

 


2 comments:

Louise said...

wow, amazing poem.

Joan Braun said...

beautiful blog that I just bumped into accidentally! Thank you! I will see how to subscribe..

Joan Braun
on Facebook