Danielle

Life!

I was sitting here wondering

This new borne scent

What is it…

Life!

I missed it sweetheart

From so far away

And yet I felt it

Touching you

Across digital miles

A breaking heart

Craving a touch

Feeling your life

Knowing the joy

Seeing familial pride

A memory place

And one I have never grown tired of

My love lives there

Life

I’ve missed the scent

Yet knowing you are here

In this world

A short connection away

My life is that much better.

Blessed.

Learning to Read by Franz Wright

It's not often I feature other's poetry here but Franz Wright's poem touched me.  I've made a point of placing the entire page from the Knopf (e)mailing.  I am hoping I am not breaking any copyright rules here.  Every April Knopf publish a Poem-A-Day, in celebration of Poetry Month.

A window onto the childhood of Franz Wright, who turned sixty last year and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for Walking to Martha's Vineyard. This poem appears in F, his newest collection. To share the poem-a-day experience with friends, pass along this link >>  Learning to Read If I had to look up every fifth or sixth word so what. I looked them up. I had nowhere important to be. My father was unavailable, and my mother looked like she was about to break, and not into blossom, each time I spoke. My favorite was The Iliad. True, I had trouble pronouncing the names; but when was I going to pronounce them, and to whom? My stepfather maybe? Number one, he could barely speak English - two, he had sufficient cause to smirk or attack without prompting from me. Loneliness boredom and fear my motivation fiercely fueled. I get down on my knees and thank God for them. Du Fu, the Psalms, Whitman, Rilke. Life has taught me to understand books. More on this poem and author: Click here to learn more about Franz Wright's F. Browse other titles by Franz Wright. Visit our Tumblr to share this poem and peruse other poems, audio recordings, and broadsides in our Knopf Poem-a-Day series. This year we're hosting a contest called "Portray Your Love of Poetry." Submit your entry!  Buy the Book Excerpt from F. Copyright (c) 2013 by Franz Wright. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, LLC., New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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