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Video: ‘Dust’ by Dorianne Laux
In this video, Dorianne Laux reads her poem Dust at the 2011 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival.
—
Dust
Someone spoke to me last night,
told me the truth. Just a few words,
but I recognized it.
I knew I should make myself get up,
write it down, but it was late,
and I was exhausted from working
all day in the garden, moving rocks.
Now, I remember only the flavor-
not like food, sweet or sharp.
More like a fine powder, like dust.
And I wasn’t elated or frightened,
but simply rapt, aware.
That’s how it is sometimes-
God comes to your window,
all bright light and black wings,
and you’re just too tired to open it.
—
copyright 1994 by Dorianne Laux. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Dust,” by Dorianne Laux, from What We Carry (BOA Editions). Included here by permission of the author.
Also published in The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, 3rd edition.
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