PoemI Was Reading a Scientific Article
Author / PoetMargaret Atwood
TagsBrain, Connection, Memory, Universe

They have photographed the brain
and here is the picture, it is full of
branches as I always suspected,

each time you arrive the electricity
of seeing you is a huge
tree lumbering through my skull, the roots waving.

It is an earth, its fibres wrap
things buried, your forgotten words
are graved in my head, an intricate

red blue and pink prehensile chemistry
veined like a leaf
network, or is it a seascape
with corals and shining tentacles.

I touch you, I am created in you
somewhere as a complex
filament of light

You rest on me and my shoulder holds

your heavy unbelievable
skull, crowded with radiant
suns, a new planet, the people
submerged in you, a lost civilization
I can never excavate:

my hands trace the contours of a total
universe, its different
colors, flowers, its undiscovered
animals, violent or serene

its other air
its claws

its paradise rivers

Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
18 Nov 1939
Region: North America
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Feminist, Postmodern
Awards: Governor General's Award

more poems by Margaret Atwood

Poem NameTopic
You Fit Into MeConnection, Contrast, Fit
You BeginColors, Identity, Learning
Variation on the Word SleepDream, Intimacy, Protection
This Is A Photograph Of MeBlur, Flecks, Memory
The MomentAchievement, Journey, Ownership
The Woman Who Could Not Live With Her Faulty HeartDesire, Emotion, Heart
More and MoreAssimilation, Desire, Dissolution
Is/NotComparison, Love, Profession
Helen Of Troy Does Countertop DancingExploitation, Self-Respect, Talent
Flying Inside Your Own BodyBreath, Contrast, Dreams

all poems by Margaret Atwood

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments