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By Lorine Niedecker

I married


in the world’s black night
for warmth
                  if not repose.
                  At the close—
someone.


I hid with him
from the long range guns.
                  We lay leg
                  in the cupboard, head
in closet.


A slit of light
at no bird dawn—
                  Untaught
                  I thought
he drank


too much.
I say
                  I married
                  and lived unburied.
I thought—


Lorine Niedecker, “[I married]” from Collected Works, edited by Jenny Penberthy, Copyright © 2002 Regents of the University of California. Published by University of California Press.

Source: Collected Works (University of California Press, 2002)

  • Living

Poet Bio

Lorine Niedecker
Niedecker was born in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and lived in this wilderness area for most of her life. She lived a quiet life far removed from the professional poetry world, where she wrote hundreds of poems remarkable for their loving observation of nature and delicate musicality. Ever increasing in popularity, her finely-honed verse speaks to readers in a delightful, distinctive voice. See More By This Poet

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