THEODORE ROETHKE, THE GERANIUM

THEODORE ROETHKE

The Geranium

When I put her out, once, by the garbage pail,
She looked so limp and bedraggled,
So foolish and trusting, like a sick poodle,
Or a wizened aster in late September,
I brought her back in again
For a new routine--
Vitamins, water, and whatever
Sustenance seemed sensible
At the time: she'd lived
So long on gin, bobbie pins, half-smoked cigars, dead beer,
Her shriveled petals falling
On the faded carpet, the stale
Steak grease stuck to her fuzzy leaves.
(Dried-out, she creaked like a tulip.)


The things she endured!--
The dumb dames shrieking half the night
Or the two of us, alone, both seedy,
Me breathing booze at her,
She leaning out of her pot toward the window.


Near the end, she seemed almost to hear me--
And that was scary--
So when that snuffling cretin of a maid
Threw her, pot and all, into the trash-can,
I said nothing.


But I sacked the presumptuous hag the next week,

I was that lonely.

Theodore Roethke

VÍDEO: THE GERANIUM

En este vídeo puedes ver una representación visual y recitada del poema de Theodore Roethke.

MEDITACIONES Y OTROS POEMAS  Theodore Roethke
Por si te apetece leer su poesía en español:

El Cuaderno celebrará sus 30 números de vida adelantando parte del contenido de Meditaciones y otros poemas, Ediciones Trea, un volumen que plantea una extensa selección de la obra del poeta norteamericano Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) con traducciones de Luis Javier Moreno.

Si deseas más información visita este enlace:

http://elcuadernoculturaldelavoz.blogspot.com.es/