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