Aunt Jennifer's Tigers by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

Make Yourself Invisible

So, I've been pretty lax about posting lately. I'd like to say it's because I'm so damn busy, but it's just because I haven't been motivated.

To kick off what I hope will be a prolific posting cycle, what could be better than Charles Simic? This one is from his book Walking the Black Cat. It is haunting and lovely. Like many of Simic's poems this one takes the reader back to WWII--a period of time that appears to have had a profound effect on his poetry. Simic lived in Europe during WWII and did not move to the United States until he was a teenager. This poem also features a dog, as do some of his other WWII poems, which I think, for Simic, symbolizes innocence, but perhaps you will want to investigate that yourself and make your own judgement. The idea of being/not being (as is apparent in the idea of invisibility, here) is a theme that is prevalent throughout Simic's body of work also. Very rich and complex work indeed.

Make Yourself Invisible

Drew islands with palm trees
My sister did.
The beaches were empty.
We wanted to lie on their hot sand
And drink lemonade.

Read your book and be quiet,
They yelled at us from the kitchen.

That spring we could smell lilacs
During the blackout.
Boom! Boom! The bombs fell
While a dog barked bravely
In someone's back yard.

Make yourself invisible,
The old witch said.
From now on, we were breadcrumbs
In a dark forest
Where the little red birds
Had just fallen silent.