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.)