Sharon Olds
East Across the Atlantic
Meditation during the Sufferings and Deaths of Others
I did not deserve to be beaten, and I did not deserve ballet lessons– except insofar as everyone deserves ballet lessons. Me mum thought I was well worth beating. She would not have thought that I deserved to starve. I deserved the milk in her breasts–I had put it there. When I was a baby, …
Ode to the Penis
Someone told me that what I writeabout men is objectifying. So I ask you,O general idea of the penis, do you mindbeing noticed? You who stand, in the mind—erect and not, old and young—for all your representations, O abstractprinciple, haven’t you maybe beenwaiting for your turn to be sung? I thinkyou’re lovely and brave, and …