yes at first
yes at first
Original Text
Margaret Atwood, Selected Poems (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1976): 151.
1yes at first you
2go down smooth as
3pills, all of me
4breathes you in and then it's
5a kick in the head, orange
6and brutal, sharp jewels
7hit and my
8hair splinters
9 the adjectives
10fall away from me, no
11threads left holding
12me, I flake apart
13layer by
14layer down
15quietly to the bone, my skull
16unfolds to an astounded flower
17regrowing the body, learning
18speech again takes
19days and longer
20each time / too much of
21this is fatal
Publication Notes
Power Politics (Toronto: Anansi, 1971).
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2009
Special Copyright
"yes at first" © Margaret Atwood. Printed gratis, and specifically for <i>Representative Poetry Online</i>, with permission of the author. As published in <i>Selected Poems</i> (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1976). Any other use, including reproduction for any purposes, educational or otherwise, will require explicit written permission from Margaret Atwood.