What a glorious, gentle, heartbreaking poem this is about dying. Helen Dunmore, novelist, poet, winner of the Orange Prize, died too soon on June 5, 2017. In a slim volume of poetry, Inside the Wave, I found ‘My Life’s Stem was Cut’. I defy you to read it without feeling a combination of sadness and hope.
[photo: Caroline Forbes]
‘My life’s stem was cut,
But quickly, lovingly,
I was lifted up,
I heard the rush of the tap
And I was set in water
In the blue vase…’
Read these other excerpts, and perhaps find a new poet to love:-
‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death’ by Emily Dickinson
‘Japanese Maple’ by Clive James
‘I Loved Her Like the Leaves’ by Kakinonoto Hitomaro
Read my reviews of Helen Dunmore’s novels, The Lie, Exposure, Birdcage Walk.
And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A #poem to read in the bath: ‘My Life’s Stem was Cut’ by Helen Dunmore https://wp.me/p5gEM4-428 via @SandraDanby
