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"Loss Loved Me"

By Kathryn MarisPosted Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at 5:26 AM ET

Click here to listen to Kathryn Maris read this poem.


Loss loved me, and suddenly: loss loved me not.
I tried to be winsome, I tried following

my father's rule: be aloof if you want to allure!
I loaded my speech with emptiness.

I let him kneel at my feet with a flame.
I played goddess to his supplicant.

I smiled as he stalked me
but tilted my head in sadness, deceptively.

Still he left, and now what? It's spring—
and worse—there is no wind

and I am nothing without the wind
and I am even less in the too-bright sun.

I said goodbye to my white-haired love
Who kissed me with his tongue.

I said, "Goodbye. Goodbye. The attention was fun."
He said, "Not to worry, girl—it's only just begun."

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Kathryn Maris, an American poet based in London, is the author of The Book of Jobs.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click here.

Click here to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.
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