Favorite Poems
Throughout My Life
70: “Breakfast Song,” 2002, by Elizabeth
Bishop (1911–79)
I’m not sure
where I saw this first—
Perhaps on
Writer’s Almanac?
A single
glance sufficed: A burst
Of pure
desire—a heart attack
Of
sorts—assailed me, and I knew
That this one I must memorize.
And so I
did. Those “eyes of blue”
Reminded me
of Joyce, whose eyes,
Indeed, are
blue. And at the heart
Of
this—consuming fear of loss—
Strikes home
to me. And not in part.
In whole. No
way to get across
That chasm
of such keen despair—
A love
departs (yes, claimed by death).
She is not
here, not anywhere—
And torture
each ensuing breath.
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