There was winter’s cold and moisture
in the bedclothes, in the walls and floor,
our bodies tired from a long day’s work.
At night I dreamt I caught the two yellow ducklings,
and struggled to keep my hold.
It was easiest keeping them in my breast pockets.
I wanted to bring them home to raise them,
but realized then I didn’t know what
to feed them. I don’t remember the rest.
I probably went to the opera, but this
may have been a dream from the night before.
In the morning, weeding flowerbeds,
Tiia found a little hare crouching under a poppy.
Jaan Kaplinski (trs Sam Hamill and Riina Tamm), from The Wandering Border (Harvill, 1995)
Published by Anthony Wilson
I am a poet and writing tutor. For 24 years I worked in teacher and medical education at the University of Exeter. My anthology Lifesaving Poems was published by Bloodaxe Books in 2015. In 2012 I published Riddance (Worple Press), a collection of poems, and Love for Now (Impress Books), a memoir, about my experience of cancer. The Wind and the Rain, my sixth collection of poems, was published in 2023 by Blue Diode Press. Plymbridge, a new pamphlet, is available now from Worple Press. My final research project, funded by the Foyle Foundation, was Young Poets' Stories: https://youngpoetsstories.com/. This blog is archived by the British Library.
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You introduced this poet and poem to us in Manchester a couple of months ago, for which I thank you!
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