Glukupikron by Gregory Orr
Glukupikron
Gregory Orrto Sappho
Word you created
which we translate
bittersweet
thereby
reversing the terms
as if we thought pain
came first
and pleasure only later;
for you maybe joy
was initial,
to be followed
by harsh disappointment.Yet in the word itself
the two fuse,
and in the condition
it refers to
they mingle,
indistinguishable,
not to be separated
by any force.It was
your word for love.
MARGINALIA
Because I saw this somewhere and I can’t get it out of my head.
ABOUT GREGORY ORR
Gregory Orr was born in Albany, New York, in 1947, and grew up in the rural Hudson Valley. He received a BA degree from Antioch College in 1969 and an MFA from Columbia University in 1972. Orr is the author of more than ten collections of poetry, including River Inside the River: Poems (W. W. Norton, 2013); How Beautiful the Beloved (Copper Canyon Press, 2009); Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved (Copper Canyon Press, 2005); and The Caged Owl: New and Selected… (more)
Read more poems by Gregory Orr • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Website • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: language • love • bittersweet • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.




