After Opening The New York Times I Wonder How to Write a Poem about Love by Camille T. Dungy
After Opening The New York Times I Wonder How to Write a Poem about Love
Camille T. DungyTo love like God can love, sometimes.
Before the kettle boils to a whistle, quiet. Quiet
that is lost on me, waiting as I am
for an alarm. The sort of things I notice:
the bay over redbud blossoms, mountains
over magnolia blooms. There is always something
starting somewhere, and I have lost ambition
to look into the details. Shame fits comfortably
as my best skirt, and what can I do
but walk around in that habit? Turn the page.
Turn another page. This was meant to be
about love. Now there is nothing left but this.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Smith Blue by Camille T. Dungy, published by Southern Illinois University Press, 2011. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)
ABOUT CAMILLE T. DUNGY
Camille T. Dungy was born in Denver in 1972. She received a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Dungy is the author of the poetry collections America, A Love Story (Wesleyan University Press, 2026); Trophic Cascade (Wesleyan University Press, 2017); Smith Blue (Southern Illinois University Press, 2011), winner of the 2010 Crab Orchard Open Book Prize; Suck on the Marrow (Red Hen Press, 2010); and What to Eat, What to Drink, What… (more)
Read more poems by Camille T. Dungy • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Website • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: shame • love • resignation • Or browse the index
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