"Things" and "Night Song"- Lisel Mueller

eddies grrl

Things

What happened is, we grew lonely
living among the things,
so we gave the clock a face,
the chair a back,
the table four stout legs
which will never suffer fatigue.

We fitted our shoes with tongues
as smooth as our own
and hung tongues inside bells
so we could listen
to their emotional language,

and because we loved graceful profiles
the pitcher received a lip,
the bottle a long, slender neck.

Even what was beyond us
was recast in our image;
we gave the country a heart,
the storm an eye,
the cave a mouth
so we could pass into safety.



Night Song

Among Rocks, I am the loose one
Among arrows, I am the heart
Among daughters, I am the recluse
Amond sons, the one who dies young
Among answers, I am the question
Between lovers, I am the sword
Among scars, I am the fresh wound
Among shoes, I am the one with the pebble
Among days, the one that never comes
Among the bones you find on the beach, the one that sings was mine