Linda Pastan served as poet laureate of
Maryland from 1991 to 1994. This poet and her extensive body of work
have been widely honored. The Dylan Thomas Award,
Di Castagnola Award, Bess Hokin Prize of Poetry Magazine, Virginia
Faulkner Award from Prairie Schooner, and a Pushcart Prize are among
the honors bestowed upon Ms. Pastan.
A Fraction of Darkness won the Maurice English Award.
In addition, Pastan received fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the Maryland Arts Council.
A Sample of Linda Pastan's work follows. You can find more
samples and information by following the links provided at the
end of this document.
Meditation by the Stove
I have banked the fires
of my body
into a small but steady blaze
here in the kitchen
where the dough has a life of its own,
breathing under its damp cloth
like a sleeping child;
where the real child plays under the table,
pretending the tablecloth is a tent,
practicing departures; where a dim
brown bird dazzled by light
has flown into the windowpane
and lies stunned on the pavement--
it was never simple, even for birds,
this business of nests.
The innocent eye sees nothing, Auden says,
repeating what the snake told Eve,
what Eve told Adam, tired of gardens,
wanting the fully lived life.
But passion happens like an accident
I could let the dough spill over the rim
of the bowl, neglecting to punch it down,
neglecting the child who waits under the table,
the mild tears already smudging her eyes.
We grow in such haphazard ways.
Today I feel wiser than the bird.
I know the window shuts me in,
that when I open it
the garden smells will make me restless.
And I have banked the fires of my body
into a small domestic flame for others
to warm their hands on for a while.
Copyright © 1998 Linda Pastan
From Carnival Evening
W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
