Riehlife Poem of the Day: “Late Self-Portrait by Rembrandt,” by Jane Hirschfield
By Janet Grace Riehl • Apr 17th, 2008 • Category: Read OnLate Self-Portrait by Rembrandt
by Jane Hirschfield
from After
The dog, dead for years, keeps coming back in the dream.
We look at each other there with the old joy.
It was always her gift to bring me into the present—
Which sleeps, changes, awakens, dresses, leaves.
Happiness and unhappiness
differ as a bucket hammered from gold differs from one of pressed tin,
this painting proposes.
Each carries the same water, it says.
Janet Grace Riehl is the author of "Sightlines: A Poet's Diary," a downhome family
love story beyond death told in accessible story poems. She's a member
of Author's Guild, registered with Poets and Writers, and widely
published in national literary magazines and several anthologies.
Email this author | All posts by Janet Grace Riehl
