poetryweblog
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Literary links linger'd over by a poet....

Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Samurai Song
Robert Pinsky

When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had no
Mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my
choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep.


(originally published in the New Yorker, this poem graced my bathroom wall in San Francisco and got me through many a rough moment.)


posted by Celia Wednesday, July 23, 2003
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