This poem is taken from PN Review 107, Volume 22 Number 3, January - February 1996.
Three PoemsLetter to Noah
Greetings, I hope you will not be disappointed to learn I survived
the flood, riding the back of a giant turtle for a year,
riding the endless mountain ranges and oceans above gorges,
ice, and snow-covered peaks that had become part of the deep.
Sometimes I could see the sun and the moon.
I kept my senses counting the days that had no name.
I prayed to the godless moon. Even now I hear the thunder
after thunder of ocean against ocean, all manner of newborn things
crying for their mothers - the last living sound.
I saw islands of angry faces, an ocean of rodents
devouring each other, great serpents of children
knotted together in whirlpools. I mourned all things corrupt and
unclean.
Despite my peril I saw the beauty of jungle birds
that in mid-afternoon filled the horizon like a sunset.
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue'.
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 286 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 286 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?