Pieces of a Song - Diane Di Prima

Influence (Wooing)
I am no
good at pleading, too proud and
awkward, my hands
know better how to ask, but how
w/you so distant, look the leaves
are gold, remember August they were
green and we lay under them on earth

now we dwell
under roofs, we lie
side by side w/out touching
when I am
alone, my tears drop
thinking of winter

This book is an anthology selected by the author primarily with poems from the 1960s and 1970s. De Prima is a former beat poet who was an early voice for woman. These poems focus on freeing both the body and spirituality of women. Her language can be both blunt and mystical simultaneously. The poems are often reflective of the times, especially those from the 1960s. The later poems are largely based on mystical spiritual experiences. Di Prima has an original style and language that evokes new ways of imagining. Her poems are able to describe in lyrical fashion emotions and ideas which are difficult to put into words--but she does so effortlessly.