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for Trisha
Contents
PART ONE
2 The Book said we were mortal
4 And when the beloved
5 How beautiful the beloved
6 Balanced on the edge
7 Si je t’aime, prends garde à toi
8 Where are you standing
9 Don’t bother to ask
10 Not many of them, it’s true
11 A thousand years ago
12 Praxilla, almost-forgotten
13 Snow on the mountain
14 Death of the body
15 Occult power of the alphabet
16 Grief will come to you
17 When we were young
18 We could say No to love
19 Who needs another earth
20 Reading the world
21 Praising all creation...
PART TWO
1 All those years
2 That T-shirt...
3 Without a word of protest
4 Autumn again. The leaves
5 That single line: a rope
6 When my gaze strays
7 Human heart
8 To learn by heart...
9 Your Yes against all those
10 Space we make
11 Words, of course, but
12 Surrender everything...
13 Loss and loss and more
14 What death shatters
15 Steeling your heart
16 Lingering over it
17 Childhood swimming hole
18 Letting go, when all you want...
PART THREE
1 The hero who cuts a swath
2 Young, we waved flags
3 Doesn’t the soldier serve
4 The terror and thrill
5 Who says there’s nothing...
6 Voice of the beloved
7 Has the moon been up there
8 Reciprocity—that’s where
9 Her eye and my “I”
10 Those pastel, candy hearts
11 When I was young I wanted
12 What was it the beloved
13 Squander it all
14 Ask the tree or the house
15 More stores being built
16 Lots of sorrow...
PART FOUR
1 “Surprise me,” the beloved said
2 High Virginia summer
3 Sudden buildup
4 When the beloved appears
5 We poets are always
6 So many were given only
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