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November 8th, 2009 - we have 234 poets, 8,023 poems and 17,880 comments.
Raymond Carver - An Afternoon

As he writes, without looking at the sea,
he feels the tip of his pen begin to tremble.
The tide is going out across the shingle.
But it isn't that. No,
it's because at that moment she chooses
to walk into the room without any clothes on.
Drowsy, not even sure where she is
for a moment. She waves the hair from her forehead.
Sits on the toilet with her eyes closed,
head down. Legs sprawled. He sees her
through the doorway. Maybe
she's remembering what happened that morning.
For after a time, she opens one eye and looks at him.
And sweetly smiles.

Added: on November 8th, 2004 at 5:56 AM | Viewed: 8860 times | Comments and analysis of An Afternoon by Raymond Carver Comments (2)


An Afternoon - Comments and Information

Poet: Raymond Carver (Raymond Carver Art)
Poem: An Afternoon
Volume: Ultramarine

Comment 2 of 2, added on April 17th, 2009 at 10:27 AM.

i disagree, i think that his lover is not an image, but reality. The importance of the sea seems to contrast with the woman's importance, as well the waves of her hair with the waves in the sea; shes tamable.

Zach from United States
Comment 1 of 2, added on November 8th, 2004 at 5:56 AM.

doesn't everyone have those moments of complete vulnerability? The narrator seems to be trying to write something important when suddenly he is disturbed by a vision of his lover, and it is this sight that seems to make his task meaningless or impossible to achieve. Who can capture the beauty of this woman?, he seems to suggest. I love the unexpectedness of the line @but it isn't that@. What isn't that? Carver doesn't tell us, because he is so smithen with this image of his lover. how it disarms him, and all of us!

alan from Ireland

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