Poem in my pocket

[pjthompson]

It’s Poem in Your Pocket Day: http://bit.ly/11hNhsN 

Here’s the poem I’m carrying in my pocket today:

Old Man Leaves Party
by Mark Strand

It was clear when I left the party
That though I was over eighty I still had
A beautiful body. The moon shone down as it will
On moments of deep introspection. The wind held its breath.
And look, somebody left a mirror leaning against a tree.
Making sure that I was alone, I took off my shirt.
The flowers of bear grass nodded their moonwashed heads.
I took off my pants and the magpies circled the redwoods.
Down in the valley the creaking river was flowing once more.
How strange that I should stand in the wilds alone with my body.
I know what you are thinking. I was like you once. But now
With so much before me, so many emerald trees, and
Weed-whitened fields, mountains and lakes, how could I not
Be only myself, this dream of flesh, from moment to moment?

Mirrored from Better Than Dead.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful--I'm so glad you shared it. (And it's strange to me to think that I found it first via your Twitter. I think of myself as being so LJ-devoted, and yet...)

[pjthompson.livejournal.com]

Well, yanno, I love LJ, too, but it's easier to check up and check in with those short bursts. :-)

And I love Mark Strand. He does such beautiful work.