My doctor writes bismuth, arsenic, sulfa, emetine.
1960. 4,000 haiku hang from iron rods
in my Paris living room. I hurl
words into dark, wait for an echo
to cry solace in the falling snow.
What is unseen and unsaid figures bigger.
I feel the red sinking winter sun.
YOU ARE READING
The Dictators' Guide to Good Housekeeping
PoetrySelected by Margaret Atwood for the 2012 Atty Award. Collection of 10 poems. (The cover photo is a detail from the painting "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" by Dorthea Tanning. Tate Collection, London).
