Poem
Mimi Khalvati
The Middle Tone
The Middle Tone
The Middle Tone
Just so I spend my life asleep.Stars, if there are, might shine above
And dust, dust that I’ve always loved’s
Now dirt at most I lightly sweep.
But cantaor, I too exist.
My middle tone of dung and nectar,
flower and carrion, is a star
that fell, dust I too once kissed.
Reproduced by kind permission of the author and Carcanet.
© 2007, Mimi Khalvati
From: The Meanest Flower
Publisher: Carcanet, Manchester
From: The Meanest Flower
Publisher: Carcanet, Manchester
Mimi Khalvati
(Iran (Islamic Republic of), 1944)
Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran, Iran, but grew up in England, and has made London her home. She was educated at the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland, and at the Drama Centre and SOAS in London. Her poetry, published by Carcanet, has amassed critical praise and been translated into nine languages. The Financial Times named her latest collection, The Meanest Flower (2007), as one of thei...
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Poems of Mimi Khalvati
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The Middle Tone
Just so I spend my life asleep.Stars, if there are, might shine above
And dust, dust that I’ve always loved’s
Now dirt at most I lightly sweep.
But cantaor, I too exist.
My middle tone of dung and nectar,
flower and carrion, is a star
that fell, dust I too once kissed.
Reproduced by kind permission of the author and Carcanet.
From: The Meanest Flower
The Middle Tone
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