Meena Alexander is a well-known poet who writes about the themes like experience and identity of being an immigrant. Her poems showcases her own life which captures the feelings of living between many cultures. With her simple yet powerful language, her work invites the readers to think about where they come from and who they are. Read her best collection of poems below.
Whnken, Blynken & Nod Poem
It is a fantasy bedtime poem by Eugene Field that tells us the story of three children who sail across the night sky in a wooden shoe. This poem is full of imagination and creates a magical world where stars and fish come alive. It is the favorite poem by children and parents for a peaceful bedtime story.
Afterglow Poem
It is a heart touching poem about the lasting warmth of memories after something important has ended. It is telling us about how the light of good times always stays with us, even after they are completely over. The poem is also reminding us that memories can keep us feeling connected to the past which is offering the comfort to us when we move forward.
I was young when you came to me.
Each thing rings its turn,
you sang in my ear, a slip of a thing
dressed like a convent girl–
white socks, shoes,
dark blue pinafore, white blouse.
A pencil box in hand: girl, book, tree–
those were the words you gave me.
Girl was penne, hair drawn back,
gleaming on the scalp,
the self in a mirror in a rosewood room
the sky at monsoon time, pearl slits
A pencil box in hand: girl, book, tree–
those were the words you gave me.
Girl was penne, hair drawn back,
gleaming on the scalp,
the self in a mirror in a rosewood room
the sky at monsoon time, pearl slits " style="margin-left: 20px;">Copy
I watch your hands at the keyboard
Making music, one hand with a tiny jot,
A birthmark I think where finger bone
Joins palm, mark of the fish,
Living thing in search of a watering
Hole set in a walled garden,
Or in a field with all the fences torn:
Where I hear your father cry into the wind
That beats against stones in a small town
Where you were born; its cornfields
Skyward pointing, never sown, never
To be reaped, flagrant, immortal.
June already, it’s your birth month,
nine months since the towers fell.
I set olive twigs in my hair torn
from a tree in Central Park,
I ride a painted horse,
its mane a sullen wonder.
You are behind me on a lilting mare.
You whisper- What of happiness?
Dukham, Federico.
Smoke fills my eyes. Young,
I was raised to a sorrow song
short fires and stubble on
a monsoon coast.
The leaves in your cap are very green.
The eyes of your mare never close.
Somewhere you wrote: Despedida.
If I die leave the balcony open!
nine months since the towers fell.
I set olive twigs in my hair torn
from a tree in Central Park,
I ride a painted horse,
its mane a sullen wonder.
You are behind me on a lilting mare.
You whisper- What of happiness?
Dukham, Federico.
Smoke fills my eyes. Young,
I was raised to a sorrow song
short fires and stubble on
a monsoon coast.
The leaves in your cap are very green.
The eyes of your mare never close.
Somewhere you wrote: Despedida.
If I die leave the balcony open! " style="margin-left: 20px;">Copy
Snails circle
A shed where a child was born.
She bled into straw—
Who can write this?
Under Arcturus,
Rubble of light:
We have no words
For what is happening—
Still language endures
Celan said
As he stood in a torn
Green coat
Shivering a little,
In a night theater, in Bremen.
Dear Mr. Gandhi
It was cold the day the masjid
was torn down stone by stone,
colder still at the heart of Delhi
Ten years later entering Bengali market
I saw a street filled with bicycles
girls with rushing hair, boys in bright caps
I heard a voice cry
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe—
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
‘Where are you going, and what do you wish?’
The old moon asked the three.
‘We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!’
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in the beautiful sea–
‘Now cast your nets wherever you wish—
Never afeard are we’;
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam—
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
‘Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folk thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea–
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is the wee one’s trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe—
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
‘Where are you going, and what do you wish?’
The old moon asked the three.
‘We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea.
At seven, when I go to bed, I find such pictures in my head;
Castles with dragons prowling round,
Gardens where magic fruits are found;
Fair ladies prisoned in a tower,
Or lost in an enchanted bower;
While gallant horsemen ride by streams,
That border all this land of dreams
I find, so clearly in my head
At seven, when I go to bed.
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
Great comrade woman of existence, brava sleep!
How many times I’ve come to get you
And you weren’t there!
Now I have a woman friend who helps me find you
But in those days
When my life was lonely and illicit
When it didn’t seem to matter
If I was up or not, or at what hour,
Then sleep you were a tyrant
And a woman that I followed
From week to week from town to town
Not stalking but walking
In earnest pursuit of you, sleep,
Until happily you passed out or I fell down.
All hushed the trees are waiting
On tiptoe for the sight
Of moonrise shedding splendor
Across the dusk of night.
Ah, now the moon is risen
And lo, without a sound
the trees all write their welcome
Far along the ground.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;
He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper;
the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil;
He shall preserve thy soul.
I’d like the memory of me
to be a happy one,
I’d like to leave an afterglow
of smiles when life is done.
I’d like to leave an echo
whispering softly down the ways,
of happy times and laughing times
and bright and sunny days.
I’d like the tears of those who grieve,
to dry before the sun of happy memories
that I leave behind when life is done.
May the road rise with you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God keep you
in the hollow of His hand.
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you
in the palm of His hand.
God saw you getting tired
and a cure was not to be
so He put His arms around you
and whispered, “Come to Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you
and saw you pass away
although we love you dearly
we could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating
hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.
When I must leave you for a little while
Please do not grieve and shed wild tears and
Hug your sorrow to you through the years,
But start out bravely with a gallant smile;
And for my sake and in my name
Live on and do all things the same.
Feed not your loneliness on empty days,
But fill each waking hour in useful ways,
Reach out your hand in comfort and in cheer
And I in turn will comfort you
And hold you near;
And never, never be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you in the sky.
You left a beautiful memory
and a sorrow too great to be told,
but to us who loved and lost you,
your memory will never grow old.
Always a silent hurt, many a silent tear,
but always a beautiful memory
of one we loved so dear.
God gave us strength to bear it,
and courage to take the blow,
but what it meant to lose you,
no one will ever know.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
The Lord be with you now
and for evermore.
And May You Rest in Peace.
Amen.
God looked around His garden
And found an empty place.
He then looked down upon the earth,
And saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough,
And the hills were hard to climb,
So He closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, “Peace be Thine.”
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free;
I took His hand when I heard Him call;
I turned my back and left it all.
If my parting has left a void;
then fill it with remembered joy.
My life’s been full, I savored much;
good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss;
ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief;
don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and share with me;
God wanted me now, He set me free.
You toiled so hard for those you loved.
You said goodbye to none,
your spirit flew before we knew,
your work on earth was done.
We miss you now, our hearts are sore,
as time goes by we miss you more.
Your loving smile, your gentle face:
no one can fill your vacant place.
Your life was love and labor.
Your love for your family true.
You did the best for all of us.
We will always remember you.
A light is from our household gone
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home
Which never can be filled.
God gave us a beautiful (mother/father),
A father who never grew old.
You were always there
With a helping hand.
Help us now to accept His plan.
We miss you now, our hearts are sore
As time goes by, we miss you more.
Your loving smile, your gentle face,
No one can take our (mother’s/father’s) place.
May the choirs of the Angels receive you
And may you have rest and p
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