Song For The Last Act
Now that I have your face by heart, I look
Less at its features than its darkening frame
Where quince and melon, yellow as young flame,
Lie with quilled dahlias and the shepherd’s crook.
Beyond, a garden, There, in insolent ease
The lead and marble figures watch the show
Of yet another summer loath to go
Although the scythes hang in the apple trees.
Now that I have your face by heart, I look.
Now that I have your voice by heart, I read
In the black chords upon a dulling page
Music that is not meant for music’s cage,
Whose emblems mix with words that shake and bleed.
The staves are shuttled over with a stark
Unprinted silence. In a double dream
I must spell out the storm, the running stream.
The beat’s too swift. The notes shift in the dark.
Now that I have your voice by heart, I read.
Now that I have your heart by heart, I see
The wharves with their great ships and architraves;
The rigging and the cargo and the slaves
On a strange beach under a broken sky.
O not departure, but a voyage done!
The bales stand on the stone; the anchor weeps
Its red rust downward, and the long vine creeps
Beside the salt herb, in the lengthening sun.
Now that I have your heart by heart, I see.
Louise Bogan
This Bogan poem is posted in memory of Michael Cozzolino, friend and great soul, who passed away recently after a long illness.
Thank you for this poem. It moved me deeply.
Though I have not lost, in death, anyone close to me, the poem’s meaning resonates with my experiences of loss, of life experience, and is guidance for cherishing life and those whom we love so dearly. Memory can be so beautiful and precious, especially in times of grief.
I am sorry for your loss.
best,
C
Thank you Caitrin for your words that console and empathize. That always helps.
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