Meadowlands Quotes

“Little soul, little perpetually undressed one,
do now as I bid you, climb
the shelf-like branches of the spruce tree;
wait at the top, attentive, like
a sentry or look-out. He will be home soon;
it behooves you to be
generous. You have not been completely
perfect either; with your troublesome body
you have done things you shouldn’t
discuss in poems. Therefore
call out to him over the open water, over the bright water
with your dark song, with your grasping,
unnatural song—passionate,
like Marie Callas. Who
wouldn’t want you? Whose most demonic appetite
could you possibly fail to answer? Soon
he will return from wherever he goes in the meantime,
suntanned from his time away, wanting
his grilled chicken. Ah, you must greet him,
you must shake the boughs of the tree
to get his attention,
but carefully, carefully, lest
his beautiful face be marred
by too many falling needles.”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize

“We can all write about suffering
with our eyes closed. You should show people
more of yourself; show them your clandestine
passion for read meat.”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize

“Watching you

stare into space in the tidy
rows of the vegetable garden, ostensibly
working hard while actually
doing the worst job possible, I think

you are a small irritating purple thing
and I would like to see you walk off the face of the earth
because you are all that's wrong with my life
and I need you and I claim you.”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize

“«We look at the world once, in childhood.
The rest is memory»
Louise Glück, Nostos, Meadowlands, Harper Collins, 1996”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize

“Someone should discuss
ethics with the cat as it
inquires into the limp bird:

in this house
we do not experience
will in this manner.

Tell that to the animal,
its teeth already
deep in the flesh of another animal.”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize

“I wish we went on walks
like Steven and Kathy; then
we'd be happy. You can even see it
in the dog.”
― Louise Glück, Meadowlands: Winner of the Nobel Prize