Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy
The World’s Wife
The collection of poems by Carol Ann Duffy entitled The World’s Wife was first published in 1999 and presents stories, myths, fairy tales and characters in Western culture from the point of view of women, very often giving voice to the hitherto unsung women close to famous men. Muc...
“Delilah” (1999)
Teach me, he said—
we were lying in bed—
how to care.
I nibbled the purse of his ear.
What do you mean?
Tell me more.
He sat up and reached for his beer
I can rip out the roar
from the throat of a tiger,
or gargle with fire
or sleep one whole night in the Minotaur's lair,
or flay the bellowing fur
from a bear,
all for a dare.
There's nothing I fear.
Put your hand here—
he guided my fingers over the scar
over his heart,
a four-medal wound from the war—
but I cannot be gentle, or loving, or tender.
I have to be strong.
What is the cure?
He fucked me again
until he was sore,
then we both took a shower.
Then he lay with his head on my lap
for a darkening hour;
his voice, for a change, a soft burr
I could just about hear.
And, yes, I was sure
that he wanted to change,
my warrior.
I was there.
So when I felt him soften and sleep,
when he started, as usual, to snore,
I let him slip and slide and sprawl, handsome and huge,
on the floor.
And before I fetched and sharpened my scissors—
snipping first at the black and biblical air—
I fastened the chain to the door.
That's the how and the why and the where.
Then with deliberate, passionate hands
I cut every lock of his hair.
Delilah was written by Carol Ann Duffy.
Delilah was produced by Carol Ann Duffy.