Merwin: I was young and the dead were in other Ages
29 April 2021
…I was young and the dead were in other Ages
As the grass has its own language
Now I forget where the difference falls
One thing about the living sometimes a piece of us
Can stop dying for a moment
But you the dead.
Once you go into those names you go on you never
Hesitate
You go on
—W.S. Merwin (1927–2019), "The Hydra." Originally published in Poetry magazine, May 1967
Photo by Chris Beckett on Flickr
Comments