Poems and Texts

“Become a person” by Dorothea Lasky

Become a person

The bee died upon entering the water
What happened to his honey no one knew

I left one fig and one kumquat
In each dish for the host

There were the yellow trunks of trees
The memory of Spain

There was the memory of being
The memory of love

Let the water take you in
So your neck is just a stalk, the head blooms

Let everything go away
You are a person

Be a person
Become a person again

The happiest he ever made me
The table in white

Where upon we list the white seashore
The white sea, the white seahorses

They said I loved him better than anyone
The white seashore

No I never knew him
The bees

The bees
They know everything

Be a person
Be a person again

Dorothea Lasky

Dorothea Lasky is the author of four books of poetry, most recently ROME. She teaches at Columbia University’s School of the Arts and lives in New York City.

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