poems

1/5/20, 10(24 PMThe Blue Bowl by Jane Kenyon | Poetry Magazine

Page 1 of 2https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/36759/the-blue-bowl

The Blue Bowl B Y J A N E K E N Y O N

Jane Kenyon, "The Blue Bowl" from Collected Poems. Copyright © 2005 by the Estate of Jane Kenyon. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press.

Source: Poetry (Graywolf Press, 2005)

Like primitives we buried the cat with his bowl. Bare-handed we scraped sand and gravel back into the hole. It fell with a hiss and thud on his side, on his long red fur, the white feathers that grew between his toes, and his long, not to say aquiline, nose. We stood and brushed each other off. There are sorrows much keener than these. Silent the rest of the day, we worked, ate, stared, and slept. It stormed all night; now it clears, and a robin burbles from a dripping bush like the neighbor who means well but always says the wrong thing.

1/5/20, 10(24 PMThe Blue Bowl by Jane Kenyon | Poetry Magazine

Page 2 of 2https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/36759/the-blue-bowl

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