Quotes by Karl Shapiro

• Already old, the question Who shall die? Becomes unspoken Who is innocent?
• But with exquisite breathing you smile, with satisfaction of love, And I touch you again as you tick in the silence and settle in sleep.
• The good poet sticks to his real loves, those within the realm of possibility. He never tries to hold hands with God or the human race.
• The doctor punched my vein, the captain called me Cain, upon my belly sat the sow of fear.
• Poetry is innocent, not wise. It does not learn from experience, because each poetic experience is unique.
• My soul is now her day, my day her night, So I lie down, and so I rise.
• In the tight belly of the dead, Burrow with hungry head, And inlay maggots like a jewel.
• Laughter and grief join hands. Always the heart Clumps in the breast with heavy stride; The face grows lined and wrinkled like a chart, The eyes bloodshot with tears and tide. Let the wind blow, for many a man shall die.
• Lastly, his tomb shall list and founder in the troughs of grass. And none shall speak his name.
• The body, what is it, Father, but a sign To love the force that grows us, to give back What in Thy palm is senselessness and mud?