Talent
This is the word tightrope. Now imagine
a man, inching across it in the space
between our thoughts. He holds our breath.
There is no word net.
You want him to fall, don’t you?
I guessed as much; he teeters but succeeds.
The word applause is written all over him.
[From Standing Female Nude]
~
From the publisher’s Web site:
This outstanding first collection introduced Carol Ann Duffy’s impressive gifts and the broad range of her interests and style. The poems are fresh, skilful, passionate.
From the Encylopedia Britannica:
Carol Ann Duffy, in full Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born December 23, 1955, Glasgow, Scotland), British poet whose well-known and well-liked poetry engaged such topics as gender and oppression, expressing them in familiar, conversational language that made her work accessible to a variety of readers. In 2009, she became the first woman appointed poet laureate of Great Britain.