We die,
Welcoming Bluebeards to our darkening closets,
Stranglers to our outstretched necks,
Stranglers, who neither care nor
care to know that
DEATH IS INTERNAL.

We pray,
Savoring sweet the teethed lies,
Bellying the grounds before alien gods,
Gods, who neither know nor
wish to know that
HELL IS INTERNAL.

We love,
Rubbing the nakednesses with gloved hands,
Inverting our mouths in tongued kisses,
Kisses that neither touch nor
care to touch if
LOVE IS INTERNAL.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Maya Angelou's poem The Detached

1 Comment

  1. Puja Biswas says:
    June 11, 2011 at 4:12 am

    Reading this poem was like seeing into the mirror. This poem highlights the conflict between human mind and human brain, the conflict between romanticism and hypocrisy. Here spirituality has been shadowed by stark realism. Love has lost its battle with lust. Humanity and other esthetic qualities of a human being which are to keep secured and safe in human heart are forcefully dragged out and torn to pieces by the human brain.

    Reply

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