Louise Glück won the Nobel Prize in literature this week, and I’m so pleased. I really admire her work. And each book is different. Here’s a sample, from Averno.
October (section 1)
Is it winter again, is it cold again,
didn’t Frank just slip on the ice,
didn’t he heal, weren’t the spring seeds planted
didn’t the night end, didn’t the melting ice flood the narrow gutters
wasn’t my body rescued, wasn’t it safe
didn’t the scar form, invisible above the injury
terror and cold,
didn’t they just end, wasn’t the back garden harrowed and planted—
I remember how the earth felt, red and dense, in stiff rows, weren’t the seeds planted, didn’t vines climb the south wall
I can’t hear your voice
for the wind’s cries, whistling over the bare ground
I no longer care what sound it makes
when was I silenced, when did it first seem pointless to describe that sound
what it sounds like can’t change what it is—
didn’t the night end, wasn’t the earth safe when it was planted
didn’t we plant the seeds,
weren’t we necessary to the earth,
the vines, were they harvested?