2 poems by Patricia Clare Lamb

from her latest book, A LOSS FOR WORDS (Harbottle Press, Houston, Texas, 2009). THE LONG LOVE (new and collected poems 1957-1998) was issued by Harbottle in 1998. Pat Lamb is one of America's best and most under-rated poets.



All Lines Down

1 Kings 19:11-13



All roads being closed and all lines down,
You'll have to make your own
Language now. No one except the one
Who is himself the word can answer you.
(I preach what you've already proved is true.)
I pray you may have found
Peace amid the clamor, discipline
In the confusion, eloquence within
A tiny whispering sound.






I Want To Say


I want to say don't go, this is your spot,
But you are inching onward every day,
And what are we here for, if not to go?
You are changing even while I look
Across this trifling table and this unread book,
Going even as we say hello.
Say to the waters, stay,
And to the sea, change not.