shattered

This is probably my favorite Louise Glück poem of all time. 

The great thing

is not having 

a mind. Feelings:

oh, I have those; they 

govern me. I have 

a lord in heaven 

called the sun, and open 

for him, showing him

the fire of my own heart, fire 

like his presence.

What could such glory be

if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters, 

were you like me once, long ago, 

before you were human? Did you 

permit yourselves

to open once, who would never 

open again? Because in truth 

I am speaking now 

the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.

—Louise Glück (b. 1943), "The Red Poppy," from The Wild Iris, 1992.