Alix in Wonderland

When the going gets tough, find someone to go with you. I have several people who will walk with me when I can’t walk alone. This poem is for one of them. I came across it when I was going through Carol Ann Duffy’s work (if you scroll through my older posts, you’ll notice I’m a fan). It’s a beautiful love poem for her partner. Other than most romantic poems, it doesn’t celebrate beauty or character. Just a name. I love that. And I hope you do too.

When did your name
change from a proper noun
to a charm?

Its three vowels
like jewels
on the thread of my breath.

Its consonants
brushing my mouth
like a kiss.

I love your name.
I say it again and again
in this summer rain.

I see it,
discreet in the alphabet,
like a wish.

I pray it
into the night
till its letters are light.

I hear your name
rhyming, rhyming,
rhyming with everything.

Carol Ann Duffy