It was taken some time ago.
At first it seems to be
a smeared
print: blurred lines and grey flecks
blended with the paper;
then, as you scan
it, you see in the left-hand corner
a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree
(balsam or spruce) emerging
and, to the right, halfway up
what ought to be a gentle
slope, a small frame house.
In the background there is a lake,
and beyond that, some low hills.
(The photograph was taken
the day after I drowned.
I am in the lake, in the center
of the picture, just under the surface.
It is difficult to say where
precisely, or to say
how large or small I am:
the effect of water
on light is a distortion
but if you look long enough,
eventually
you will be able to see me.)
(Margaret Atwood)
More Poetry from Margaret Atwood:
Margaret Atwood Poems based on Topics: Time, Nature, Light, Water- Provisions (Margaret Atwood Poem)
- The Shadow Voice (Margaret Atwood Poem)
- The Landlady (Margaret Atwood Poem)
- Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War (Margaret Atwood Poem)
- Backdropp Addresses Cowboy (Margaret Atwood Poem)
- The City Planners (Margaret Atwood Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Light Poems, Time Poems, Nature Poems, Water PoemsBased on Keywords: drowned, large, gentle, day, beyond, corner, small, paper, part, low, picture
- Book III - Part 03 - The Soul is Mortal (Lucretius Poems)
- Out Of The East (John Freeman Poems)
- Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind. In Three Cantos. - Canto III. (Matthew Prior Poems)
- Rhodon And Iris. Act III (Ralph Knevet Poems)
- Of The Nature Of Things: Book II - Part 03 - Atomic Forms And Their Combinations (Lucretius Poems)