‘May Love Seize You’ by Anne Michaels

The Bookshop hosted Anne Michaels in conversation with Bidisha on Monday 9 October 2017; her reading included the following new poem, ‘May Love Seize You’.

may love seize you

may the mountain pass always be open

may you continue to carry cases of champagne in the night streets

may you always know the company of animals, and sing to the cows and the crows

may you always read in bed with the ones you love most

may the flash of lightning illuminate a wild joy in your face even in the shipwreck

may you elude the hook of despair like a fish free in a stream

may nakedness be your best disguise

may the family of friends continue to save each other in the avalanche and in drought

may you always know ferocity, generosity

may you continue to shout defiance

may you stay awake until the beginning of the story

may you continue never to waste a moment, or a breath

may time never have its way with you

may first light bring an answer

may love seize you