{"id":5682,"date":"2007-04-20T17:26:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-20T11:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indiauncut.com\/?p=833"},"modified":"2007-04-20T17:26:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-20T11:56:00","slug":"emptiness-by-stephen-dunn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/emptiness-by-stephen-dunn\/","title":{"rendered":"Emptiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to this post<\/a>, and previous discussions of Tristesse<\/a>, Sanjeev<\/a> send me this magnificent poem by Stephen Dunn<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Emptiness<\/b><\/p>\n

I’ve learned mine can’t be filled,
\nonly alchemized. Many times
\nit’s become a paragraph or a page.
\nBut usually I’ve hidden it,
\nnot knowing until too late
\nhow enormous it grows in its dark.
\nOr how obvious it gets
\nwhen I’ve donned, say, my good
\ncordovans and my fine tweed vest
\nand walked into a room with a smile.
\nI might as well have been a man
\nwith a fez and a faux silver cane.<\/p>\n

Better, I know now, to dress it plain,
\nto say out loud
\nto some right person
\nin some right place
\nthat there’s something not there
\nin me, something I can’t name.
\nThat some right person
\nhas just lit a fire under the kettle.
\nShe hasn’t said a word.
\nBeneath her blue shawl
\nshe, too, conceals a world.<\/p>\n

But she’s amazed
\nhow much I seem to need my emptiness,
\namazed I won’t let it go.<\/p>\n

© Stephen Dunn.
\nEverything Else In The World<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ah, alchemy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to this post<\/a>, and previous discussions of Tristesse<\/a>, Sanjeev<\/a> send me this magnificent poem by Stephen Dunn<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Emptiness<\/b><\/p>\n

I’ve learned mine can’t be filled,
\nonly alchemized. Many times
\nit’s become a paragraph or a page.
\nBut usually I’ve hidden it,
\nnot knowing until too late
\nhow enormous it grows in its dark.
\nOr how obvious it gets
\nwhen I’ve donned, say, my good
\ncordovans and my fine tweed vest
\nand walked into a room with a smile.
\nI might as well have been a man
\nwith a fez and a faux silver cane.<\/p>\n

Better, I know now, to dress it plain,
\nto say out loud
\nto some right person
\nin some right place
\nthat there’s something not there
\nin me, something I can’t name.
\nThat some right person
\nhas just lit a fire under the kettle.
\nShe hasn’t said a word.
\nBeneath her blue shawl
\nshe, too, conceals a world.<\/p>\n

But she’s amazed
\nhow much I seem to need my emptiness,
\namazed I won’t let it go.<\/p>\n

© Stephen Dunn.
\nEverything Else In The World<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ah, alchemy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmptiness - India Uncut<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/emptiness-by-stephen-dunn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emptiness - India Uncut\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In response to this post, and previous discussions of Tristesse, Sanjeev send me this magnificent poem by Stephen Dunn: Emptiness I’ve learned mine can’t be filled, only alchemized. Many times it’s become a paragraph or a page. But usually I’ve hidden it, not knowing until too late how enormous it grows in its dark. Or how obvious it gets when I’ve donned, say, my good cordovans and my fine tweed vest and walked into a room with a smile. I might as well have been a man with a fez and a faux silver cane. Better, I know now, to dress it plain, to say out loud to some right person in some right place that there’s something not there in me, something I can’t name. That some right person has just lit a fire under the kettle. She hasn’t said a word. Beneath her blue shawl she, too, conceals a world. But she’s amazed how much I seem to need my emptiness, amazed I won’t let it go. © Stephen Dunn. Everything Else In The World. 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