Two amazing poets died this week, W. S. Merwin and Linda Gregg. I have posted several of Merwin’s poems before. Somehow though, I never have posted a poem by Linda Gregg. Here’s a sample:
Death Looks Down
Death looks down on the salmon
A male and female in two pools
one above the other
The female turns back along the path of water to the male
does not touch him and returns to the place she had been
I know what Death will do
Their bodies already sour and ragged
Blood has risen to the surface under the scales
One side of his jaw is unhinged
Death will pick them up
Put them away under his coat against his skin
and belt them there
He will walk away up to the path through the bay trees
Through the dry grass of California to where the mountain begins
Where a few deer almost the color of the hills will look up until he is under the trees again
Where the road ends and there is a gate
He will climb over that with his treasure
It will be dark by then
But for now, he does nothing
He does not disturb the silence at all
Nor the occasional sound of leaves
of ferns touching
of grass or stream
For now he looks down at the salmon
Large and whole
Motionless days and nights in the cold water Lying still
Always facing the constant motion
Linda Gregg
Continue reading “Two deaths”
