Most Read... Rebecca WattsThe Cult of the Noble Amateur
(PN Review 239)
John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 214, Volume 40 Number 2, November - December 2013.

'Song for Ghosts and the Lost' and Other Poems translated by Gregg Ellis Philippe Soupault
Song for Ghosts and the Lost

Today it's hands I love
Yesterday it was the nape of a neck
Tomorrow will be lips
and in the evening a smile
In three days a face
In short, every day of the week
I'll be amazed to still be living
Maybe Monday I'll remember your walk
and Tuesday no doubt your hair
I must also listen to the voice
the one belonging to ghosts
the one that hesitates, that suggests
life isn't as atrocious
as I was just thinking
Wednesday forget everything
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image