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You are here: Home / Poems / Poem of the Week: West Wall

Poem of the Week: West Wall

May 18, 2015 By Merwin Conservancy

West WallUnknown

In the unmade light I can see the world
as the leaves brighten I see the air
the shadows melt and the apricots appear
now that the branches vanish I see the apricots
from a thousand trees ripening in the air
they are ripening in the sun along the west wall
apricots beyond number are ripening in the daylight

Whatever was there
I never saw those apricots swaying in the light
I might have stood in orchards forever
without beholding the day in the apricots
or knowing the ripeness of the lucid air
or touching the apricots in your skin
or tasting in your mouth the sun in the apricots

–W. S. Merwin, from his book The Rain In The Trees

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P.O. Box 809 
Haiku, HI 96708 
808-579-8876
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