Veteran (by Fanny Howe)
Veteran (by Fanny Howe)
Original Text
Fanny Howe, Selected Poems (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000).
This
poem is reproduced on the Griffin Prize Web Site (from a volume on the 2001 International Shortlist).
1I don’t believe in ashes; some of the others do.
2I don’t believe in better or best; some of the others do.
3I don’t believe in a thousand flowers or the first robin
4of the year or statues made of dust. Some of the others do
5I don’t believe in seeking sheet music
6by Boston Common on a snowy day, don’t believe
7in the lighting of malls seasonably
8When I’m sleeping I don’t believe in time
9as we own it, though some of the others might
10Sad lace on green. Veterans stamping the leafy snow
11I don’t believe in holidays
12long-lasting and artificial. Some of the others do
13I don’t believe in starlings of crenelated wings
14I don’t believe in berries, red & orange, hanging on
15threadlike twigs. Some of the others do
16I don’t believe in the light on the river
17moving with it or the green bulbs hanging on the elms
18Outdoors, indoors, I don’t believe in a gridlock of ripples
19or the deep walls people live inside
20Some of the others believe in food & drink & perfume
21I don’t. And I don’t believe in shut-in time
22for those who committed a crime
23of passion. Like a sweetheart
24of the iceberg or wings lost at sea
25the wind is what I believe in,
26the One that moves around each form
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011