Gracious Living          ‘Tara’ 

Gracious Living          ‘Tara’ 

By Tom Raworth b. 1938 Tom Raworth
lonely as four cherries on a tree
at night, new moon, wet roads
a moth or a snowflake
whipping past glass
 
lonely as the red noses of four clowns
thrust up through snow
their shine four whitened panes
drawn from imagined memory
 
lonely as no other lives
touching to recorded water
all objects stare
their memories aware
 
lonely as pain
recoiling from itself
imagining the cherries
and roses reaching out


Tom Raworth, "Gracious Living       ‘Tara’" from Collected Poems. Copyright © 2003 by Tom Raworth.  Reprinted by permission of Carcanet Press, Ltd.

Source: Collected Poems (Carcanet Press Ltd, 2003)

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Poet Tom Raworth b. 1938

POET’S REGION England

Subjects Living, Disappointment & Failure, Love, Heartache & Loss, Nature, Landscapes & Pastorals

Poetic Terms Metaphor

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Writer, artist, teacher, and publisher Tom Raworth was born in South London. He attended the University of Essex; in 1970, he earned an MA in the theory and practice of literary translation. As founder of Matrix Press and cofounder of Goliard Press, Raworth was instrumental in bringing an entire tradition of American poetry to English readers. Promoting the work of a number of poets associated with the Black Mountain School, . . .

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SUBJECT Living, Disappointment & Failure, Love, Heartache & Loss, Nature, Landscapes & Pastorals

POET’S REGION England

Poetic Terms Metaphor

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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