There Lies a Woman



There, in front of the old pagoda, lies a woman.
She blocks the driveway quietly on her side.
The local traffic passes by like a hoodlum.
They seem to think here ignoring is right.

There, in front of the old pagoda, lies a woman,
smartly dressed in accordance with fashion,
but the ashen face keeps away the footman.
No eyes to look at her with compassion.
 
There, in front of the old pagoda, lies a woman,
severely wounded, and probably dead.
The head rest on her arm, stiffened by then.
One look and forever this image is etched.

There, in front of the old pagoda, lies a woman.
No monk is watching over her with respect.
Even the Buddhist here seems lost in nowhere.
He just waits for the money he may expect.
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Submitted by ludy_b on May 02, 2021

Modified on April 10, 2023

39 sec read
571

Quick analysis:

Scheme Axxx Aaaa Axxx Abxb
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 699
Words 133
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Ludy Bührs

The topics she writes about are very diverse, so are the poetry styles she applies. As a Dutch translator and poet, having lived in Cambodia's capital city Phnom Penh for 2.5 years, in 2008 she published "Op de ruïnes van een rijk" (On the Ruins of an Empire) ISBN 978-90-8834-483-1 with 60 poems based on her experiences there. In 2007 she received a Certificate of Accomplishment as one of The Best Poems and Poets of 2007 issued by poetry.com and the International Library of Poetry for her poem Choked Truth, her own translation of "Verstikte waarheid", one of the poems in the book. Born in 1956, she still works as an independent translator, translating from English into Dutch. more…

All Ludy Bührs poems | Ludy Bührs Books

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    "There Lies a Woman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/98922/there-lies-a-woman>.

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