ONE DAY

by grace paley from fidelity

one day

one of us

will be lost

to the other

this has been

talked about but

lightly    turning

away    shyness  this

business of con-

fronting the

preference for

survival

my mother said    the

children are grown   we

are both so sick    let us

die together    my father

replied     no no   you

will be well   he lied

of course i

want you in the world

whether i’m in it or

not    your spirit

i probably mean

there is always

something to say    in

the end    speaking

without breath    one

of us will be lost

to the other

ANTI-LOVE POEM

by grace paley from fidelity

sometimes you don’t want to love the person you love

you turn your face away from that face

whose eyes lips might make you give up anger

forget insult    steal sadness of not wanting

to love    turn away then turn away    at breakfast

in the evening    don’t lift your eyes from the paper

to see that face in all its seriousness     a

sweetness of concentration     he holds his book

in his hand     the hard-knuckled winter wood-

scarred fingers    turn away   that’s all you can

do    old as you are to save yourself    from love

PROVERBS

by grace paley from fidelity

a person’s anger should be respected

even when it isn’t shared

a person’s happiness should be shared

even if it isn’t understood

a person should be understood    though

he has brought both his brows together

in anger and also suddenly begun to laugh

a person should be in love most of

the time    this is the last proverb

and may be learned by all the organs

capable of bodily response