The Red Poppy

The great thing
is not having
a mind. Feelings:
oh, I have those; they
govern me. I have
a lord in heaven
called the sun, and open
for him, showing him
the fire of my own heart, fire
like his presence.
What could such glory be
if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters,
were you like me once, long ago,
before you were human? Did you
permit yourselves
to open once, who would never
open again? Because in truth
I am speaking now
the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.

From The Wild Iris, published by The Ecco Press, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Louise Glück. All Rights reserved. Used with permission. This poem appeared in Poem-a-Day on October 10, 2020.

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“The Red Poppy” first appeared in The Wild Iris (Ecco Press, 1992).

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“This is a love that crowns the feet with hands
that nourishes, conceives, feels the water sails”

—“This Is Not a Small Voice” by Sonia Sanchez