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Poetry Archives

A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

Eleven O’Clock

Amy Lowell

The front door was hard and heavy,
It shut behind me on the house of ghosts.
I flattened my feet on the pavement
To feel it solid under me;
I ran my hand along the railings
And shook them,
And pressed their pointed bars
Into my palms.
The hurt of it reassured me,
And I did it again and again
Until they were bruised.
When I woke in the night
I laughed to find them aching,
For only living flesh can suffer.
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Men, Women and Ghosts | 1916
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