Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HOUSE WITH YELLOW SMOKE SONNET by JANE MILLER

First Line: TWO DAUGHTERS WHO SEEMED TO BE LISTENING
Last Line: OF HER SPINE.
Subject(s): BOREDOM; DAUGHTERS; MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS; SLEEP; ENNUI;

Two daughters who seemed to be listening.
Was I the mother, was not this
our house? Naria half-slept
seeping out of a nightmare
like yellow smoke. Beyond that -

@3was it cold by the lake today?@1

the chill of this child
whose star dazzled elsewhere -
ash. I had to go without a single light.

May Claire's hair be down, may the lace canopy
never entirely cover her most perfect
quality, ennui.
Even as she sleeps
I trespass, counting the lonely mansion railings
of her spine.



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