Midnight Poetry: “Baby Lazarus”
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Baby Lazarus
(Jackie Kay)
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When I got home
I went out into the garden
Liking it when the frost bit
My old brown boots
And dug a hole the size of a baby
And buried the clothes
I’d bought anyway, just in case.
I went out into the garden
Liking it when the frost bit
My old brown boots
And dug a hole the size of a baby
And buried the clothes
I’d bought anyway, just in case.
A week later I stood at my window
And saw the ground move
And swell the promise of a crop;
That’s when she started crying.
I gave her a service then
Sang Ye Banks And Braes
Planted a bush of roses
Read from the Bible, the book of Job
Cursed myself digging a pit for my baby
Sprinkling ash from the grate.
Late that same night
She came in by the window
My baby Lazarus
And suckled at my breast.
(Read more of Jackie Kay’s poetry here)
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AuthorScoop
October 30th, 2008 at 9:11 am
What an interesting poem. That’s sound wishy-washy, but that’s as far as I am with this one. Which actually works out to a compliment. Normally, if I find a piece as slippery as this one, I don’t bother coming back to it, but this one is very compelling.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m with you, Jamie. I’m right with you.
It is very compelling. I’ve read it three times. Each time, feeling a little sorrier and a bit more squicked-out, but also a good deal of respect for the work.
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