I'm in shock and terribly sad. She was probably my favourite poet (alive or dead) — followed closely by Dylan, which speaks volumes about her greatness. I have come out of the cinema and saw this news, passed on by Benny (don't worry, my friend, no shooting the messenger)... I'm still processing this... May she rest in peace ?️
-----------
From The Garden, in Descending Figure (1980):
The Fear of Burial
In the empty field, in the morning,
the body waits to be claimed.
The spirit sits beside it, on a small rock—
nothing comes to give it form again.
Think of the body’s loneliness.
At night pacing the sheared field,
its shadow buckled tightly around.
Such a long journey.
And already the remote, trembling lights of the village
not pausing for it as they scan the rows.
How far away they seem,
the wooden doors, the bread and milk
laid like weights on the table.