January 1, 2012 | +
Kim Addonizio, “New Year’s Day”

The rain this morning falls   
on the last of the snow

and will wash it away. I can smell   
the grass again, and the torn leaves

being eased down into the mud.   
The few loves I’ve been allowed

to keep are still sleeping
on the West Coast. Here in Virginia

I walk across the fields with only   
a few young cows for company.

Big-boned and shy,
they are like girls I remember

from junior high, who never   
spoke, who kept their heads

lowered and their arms crossed against   
their new breasts. Those girls

are nearly forty now. Like me,   
they must sometimes stand

at a window late at night, looking out   
on a silent backyard, at one

rusting lawn chair and the sheer walls   
of other people’s houses.

They must lie down some afternoons   
and cry hard for whoever used

to make them happiest,   
and wonder how their lives

have carried them
this far without ever once

explaining anything. I don’t know   
why I’m walking out here

with my coat darkening
and my boots sinking in, coming up

with a mild sucking sound   
I like to hear. I don’t care

where those girls are now.   
Whatever they’ve made of it

they can have. Today I want   
to resolve nothing.

I only want to walk
a little longer in the cold

blessing of the rain,   
and lift my face to it.

(Source: poetryfoundation.org)

145 notes

Tagged: #Kim Addonizio #poetry #lit #New Year's Day

  1. heartgobooom reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  2. mccooze reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  3. yasmij reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  4. kirstenstamn reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  5. ablazes reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  6. thegreatfun-known reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  7. keeppoopbrown reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  8. glittergutter reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  9. fuckyeahwoolsocks reblogged this from guerrillamamamedicine
  10. lipsbetweenthehips reblogged this from guerrillamamamedicine
  11. chathpiersath reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  12. guerrillamamamedicine reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  13. katinalaree reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  14. braided reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  15. aprodigaldaughter reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  16. thegirlandhersea reblogged this from sharingpoetry
  17. breathsoftruth reblogged this from demarches
  18. milroc7 reblogged this from sharingpoetry and added:
    (Source: poetryfoundation.org)
  19. waschbar reblogged this from gerutha