Separation -- W S Merwin

(Poem #1107) Separation Your absence has gone through me Like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color. -- W S Merwin

A startling, compelling poem - note the inversion of the usual 'your absence
has left a hole in me' imagery. The idea of a 'positive' absence is unusual,
but it has a definite *rightness* to it, which Merwin captures brilliantly in
his metaphor.

This is one of those poems about which one could quibble endlessly, wondering
what exactly makes it a 'poem'. That's a thorny enough area, though, that to
hack through it would divert attention from the poem itself, and thereby miss
the point entirely. Personally, I'd rather just appreciate it.

martin

Links:
 Biography of Merwin:
  [broken link] http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=124&CFID=12932983&CFTOKEN=88743333

 Today's poem is very reminiscent of Atwood - see, for instance, Poem #1093