Daily Poem

  • From the archives — Thirst — Mary Alexandra Agner

    Thirst

    There is no help
    for a blue sky,

    holding out your hand
    to the wrong man

    at the right time,
    to underestimating

    the breadth and depth
    of your own thirst.

    You cannot take back
    the sweat of his palm

    on your tongue, one night
    stand he’ll never believe.

    You will never change
    the color of the sky.

    Search though you might,
    amuck in pressing

    the boundaries of your lungs,
    your life, what luck

    you have collected,
    you will always thirst.

    It’s genetic.
    It’s inculcated.

    It’s a blessing.
    Drink deep

    and never be filled
    because it is the surprise

    of yourself, unsung,
    that will water

    the roots of the rest
    of your days.

    by Mary Alexandra Agner

    from Autumn Sky Poetry Number 8, December 2007

    Photo by Christine Klocek-Lim