Silence
By Dorothy Porter
Published 1 August 2023
It is rare for me
to write a poem
in absolute silence.
No music.
No throttling heart.
Just faint early birds
and a grey early
sky.
I’ve given up
this serpentine fight.
No one won.
And I’m flooded
with peace and
gratitude
for that.
Footnote - Andrea Goldsmith
This poem was written in the back of A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology, edited by Czeslaw Milosz. I discovered it 27/7/22.
In Dot’s usual fashion she had written in the front of the book the circumstances of its purchase: 12/11/02, Readings, at ‘Andy’s “The Prosperous Thief” reading’.
Rather than her usual copious annotations, just one poem is marked: ‘Madly Singing in the Mountains’ by Po Chu-I. She writes, "I have known this wonderful poem for years. I just keep bumping into it." (20/11/02.)