oh caffeine high you *are* good for something

[gyzym]

Okay, so today I got drunk in the middle of the afternoon with the rest of my office. Then, in order to overcome my "But it's not bedtime yet gdi gdi" mini-hangover, I drank too much caffeine, became wired, spent too much time googling, and FINALLY found a poem that a professor read aloud in a workshop I took three years ago. I didn't write down the name or author of it at the time, and I have thought about it without being able to remember enough to find it since. I am, seriously, fucking ecstatic--THREE YEARS I HAVE SEARCHED, AND NOW IT IS MINE AGAIN.

I thought I'd share it, so I never lose it again you guys can see it, because it is gorgeous ♥

A Little Tooth
by Thomas Lux

Your baby grows a tooth, then two,
and four, and five, then she wants some meat
directly from the bone. It's all

over: she'll learn some words, she'll fall
in love with cretins, dolts, a sweet
talker on his way to jail. And you,

your wife, get old, flyblown, and rue
nothing. You did, you loved, your feet
are sore. It's dusk. Your daughter's tall.

Comments

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

There's something so bleak about this poem, is it just me? Something tired, and drawn. It makes me think of Danny when he's being maudlin, before Steve turns around and does something goofy just so Danny can yell at him again, so he gets drawn out of this strange mood of his; and Gracie rolls her eyes at the two of them, but kisses Steve's cheek in thanks all the same before hugging Danny so hard his ribs creak.

...Why is everything coming up H50 these days, I have no bloody idea.

[shiroi-ten.livejournal.com]

THAT POEM. First of all good job on finding it. The satisfaction you get is prime. :3 I think my favorite part is rue and where it is placed...right at the end of the line.

[being-here.livejournal.com]

I love that poem! It reminds me a little of that Yvor Winters one (here if you don't know it: http://being-here.livejournal.com/33800.html )

Thanks for posting it.

[photoclerk.livejournal.com]

I *do* love it! <3 I love the feeling of not regretting things and knowing that you helped make something new to move on in the world.

[gyzym.livejournal.com]

No, I am so so so right there with you, oh my god ♥ ♥ ♥

[gyzym.livejournal.com]

I am torn between rue and the break in "it's all over," because there's that crest of hope and then it falls, and I just love love love the structure.

[gyzym.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, that Yvor Winters piece is so gorgeous, thank you so much for showing me that ♥

[gyzym.livejournal.com]

Me too, bb, me too :D

[seeingrightly.livejournal.com]

You know, the first time through I was startled when I scrolled down and there wasn't any more to the poem. I was expecting it to be a lengthy one. But the more I reread it the more it sticks with me and the more I get it. There's a lot in there, now that I'm digging for it.

The line breaks in this poem really are masterful - really, just about every single one almost tricks you, leads to a drastic shift in interpretation of the phrase. And the ending, oh.

Also, I love that tag.

[lmeden.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a rollercoaster of an afternoon, but at least it ended well. This is a really stunning poem, thank you for letting me read it. ♥

[foes-of-reality.livejournal.com]

CAFFEINE. ♥ I've had a lifelong love affair with caffeine. I'm not sure I'd be able to survive without it. That "getting up in the morning" thing is difficult enough as it is.

Also, that poem really is just beautiful. Wow. I especially liked that bit at the end:
You did, you loved, your feet
are sore. It's dusk. Your daughter's tall.
Just brilliant. ♥ So glad you shared it.

[kelspots.livejournal.com]

BUT WHAT ABOUT NEW CO-WORKER? DID HE SHOW UP, PROVING HIS LOVE OF FREE MID-DAY WORK-APPROVED ALCOHOL??

Ahem. Also, I read that poem with my baby daughter here in my arms and it felt like a punch in the stomach. Which I think is considered, in literary terms, success.

[lizzy-someone.livejournal.com]

I didn't write down the name or author of it at the time, and I have thought about it without being able to remember enough to find it since.

Oh my god, I LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR OF THIS, for serious. Like, I go to concerts of my school's singing groups, or open mic nights where people sing whatever -- the type of concert-y thing where you can't look up what songs were sung, is the point -- and I spend half the time desperately repeating the lyrics to half a dozen songs in my head so I can look them up when I get home. One time a car drove past me playing this gorgeous song out the windows and I did not remember enough of it and IT WAS LOST TO ME FOREVER.

I saw your poem on a subway or something once! My father pointedly directed my attention to it, and I was not amused. (It -- it just. Well. I don't want to rain on your parade because I know how wonderful it is to find something you'd been looking for forever! But even in my non-amused-ness I still thought it was wrenching and lovely.)