“I am speaking of living”
Another Spring - Denise Levertov | The Coffee Prepped for Morning
The Poem
Another Spring - Denise Levertov
In the gold mouth of a flower
the black smell of spring earth.
No more skulls on our desks
but the pervasive
testing of death—as if we had need
of new ways of dying? No,
we have no need
of new ways of dying.
Death in us goes on
testing the wild
chance of living,
as Adam chanced it.
Golden-mouth, the tilted smile
of the moon westering
is at the black window,
Calavera of Spring.
Do you mistake me?
I am speaking of living
of moving from one moment into
the next, and into the
one after, breathing
death in the spring air, knowing
air also means
music to sing to.
The Beverage
The Coffee Prepped for Morning
My spring break is over. I didn’t get all my work done. At this point, I shrug. The kitchen is clean after Easter. My bedroom is an utter disgrace. But the coffee for tomorrow morning is ready in the machine, and I just need to turn it on in the morning.