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The Portrait

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The Portrait

By: Stanley Kunitz

Poetic Outlaws
May 27, 2023
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The Portrait

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My mother never forgave my father
for killing himself,
especially at such an awkward time
and in a public park,
that spring
when I was waiting to be born.
She locked his name
in her deepest cabinet
and would not let him out,
though I could hear him thumping.
When I came down from the attic
with the pastel portrait in my hand
of a long-lipped stranger
with a brave moustache
and deep brown level eyes,
she ripped it into shreds
without a single word
and slapped me hard.
In my sixty-fourth year
I can feel my cheek 
still burning.

You can find this beautiful poem in Stanley Kunitz’s — The Collected Poems

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The Portrait

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Owen Swain
May 27

Powerful are the wounds we recieve.

Powerful are the wounds we inflict.

Powerful are the words we grieve,

with

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Dian Parker
Writes Dian’s Newsletter
May 27

Heartbreaking

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