Elizabeth Bishop

E
Elizabeth Bishop
Arrival at Santos
Here is a coast; here is a harbor;
here, after a meager diet of horizon, is some scenery;
impractically shaped and—who knows?—self-pitying mountains,
sad and harsh beneath their frivolous greenery,

with a little church on top of one. And warehouses,
some of them painted a feeble pink, or blue,
and some tall, uncertain palms. Oh, tourist,
is this how this country is going to answer you
Read Poem
0
144
Rating:

The Armadillo
for Robert Lowell This is the time of year
when almost every night
Read Poem
0
138
Rating:

Little Exercise
for Thomas Edwards Wanning Think of the storm roaming the sky uneasily
like a dog looking for a place to sleep in,
Read Poem
0
140
Rating:

Visits to St. Elizabeths
This is the house of Bedlam.

This is the man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is the time
of the tragic man
that lies in the house of Bedlam.

This is a wristwatch
telling the time
Read Poem
0
119
Rating:

At the Fishhouses
Although it is a cold evening,
down by one of the fishhouses
an old man sits netting,
his net, in the gloaming almost invisible,
a dark purple-brown,
and his shuttle worn and polished.
The air smells so strong of codfish
it makes one’s nose run and one’s eyes water.
Read Poem
0
127
Rating:

Filling Station
Oh, but it is dirty!
—this little filling station,
oil-soaked, oil-permeated
to a disturbing, over-all
black translucency.
Be careful with that match!

Father wears a dirty,
oil-soaked monkey suit
Read Poem
0
172
Rating:

The Man-Moth
Man-Moth: Newspaper misprint for “mammoth.” Here, above,
cracks in the buildings are filled with battered moonlight.
Read Poem
0
136
Rating:

One Art
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
Read Poem
0
136
Rating: