Hymn for Lota
Close, close all night
the lovers keep.
They turn together,
in their sleep,
close as two pages
in a book
that read each other
in the dark.
Each knows all
the other knows,
learned by heart
from head to toes.
Hello Friends,
Today’s untitled poem comes from the unpublished works of Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) — published in the 2006 collection Edgar Allan Poe & The Juke-Box: Uncollected Poems, Drafts, and Fragments by Elizabeth Bishop, edited by Alice Quinn. This poem is also featured in Marta Góes’s one-woman play A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop.
April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own eclectic selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.
Enjoy.
Ellen
“Hymn to Lota” by Elizabeth Bishop was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 3, 2007.
Poems by Elizabeth Bishop were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 6, 2008 and Poem-a-Day April 13, 2010.