My Daughter's First Week

the quietness

where the child is—seems uneven

within limits—of fragile lightshadows: emptiness!—for

   the world Grows

in her—to Listen

to Itself

in its Fullness

22 January 1983

 

From Child & Rose by Gennady Aygi. Copyright © 2003 by Gennady Aygi and Peter France. Used by permission of New Directions. All rights reserved.