Maybe this book?

:-(

I'm sorry. I have two favorite poems, and depending on the tone of your friend's sense of humor, she may like one or both of them. (She may also not like them, they're both kind of dark.)

You Fit Into Me by Margaret Atwood

You fit into me
Like a hook into an eye.

A fish hook, an open eye.



Telephone Booth Number 301 by Pedro Pietri

When I was very young
I used to have many
imaginary girlfriends
now that I am an adult
I miss them very much

omie, I love that Atwood poem. But yeah, not really her speed. :)

And thanks Miko, that looks like a good recommendation.

I like that second one. How poignant.

Because reading Charles Simic poems is good for anyone, here are a few:

Country Fair

for Hayden Carruth

If you didn't see the six-legged dog,
It doesn't matter.
We did, and he mostly lay in the corner.
As for the extra legs,

One got used to them quickly
And thought of other things.
Like, what a cold, dark night
To be out at the fair.

Then the keeper threw a stick
And the dog went after it
On four legs, the other two flapping behind,
Which made one girl shriek with laughter.

She was drunk and so was the man
Who kept kissing her neck.
The dog got the stick and looked back at us.
And that was the whole show.

--

The Partial Explanation

Seems like a long time
Since the waiter took my order.
Grimy little luncheonette,
The snow falling outside.

Seems like it has grown darker
Since I last heard the kitchen door
Behind my back
Since I last noticed
Anyone pass on the street.

A glass of ice-water
Keeps me company
At this table I chose myself
Upon entering.

And a longing,
Incredible longing
To eavesdrop
On the conversation
Of cooks.

--

How To Psalmodize

1. The Poet

Someone awake when others are sleeping,
Asleep when others are awake.
An illiterate who signs everything with an X.
A man about to be hanged cracking a joke.

2. The Poem

It is a piece of meat
Carried by a burglar
To distract a watchdog.

--

Errata

Where it says snow
read teeth-marks of a virgin
Where it says knife read
you passed through my bones
like a police-whistle
Where it says table read horse
Where it says horse read my migrant's bundle
Apples are to remain apples
Each time a hat appears
think of Isaac Newton
reading the Old Testament
Remove all periods
They are scars made by words
I couldn't bring myself to say
Put a finger over each sunrise
it will blind you otherwise
That damn ant is still stirring
Will there be time left to list
all errors to replace
all hands guns owls plates
all cigars ponds woods and reach
that beer-bottle my greatest mistake
the word I allowed to be written
when I should have shouted
her name

Simic Rocks.

One thing that a friend of mine told me was that (for guys) you should count on about 1 day for every two or three that you were together before you're fully over a deeply committed relationship.

He wasn't far off.

Since I'm on a Ted Kooser kick:

Lobocraspis griseifusa

This is the tiny moth that lives on tears,
who drinks like a deer at the gleaming pool
at the edge of the sleeper's eye, the touch
of its mouth as light as a cloud's reflection.

In your dream, a moonlit figure appears
at your bedside and touches your face.
He asks if he might share the poor bread
of your sorrow. You show him to the table.

The two of you talk long into the night,
but by morning the words are forgotten.
You awake serene, in a sunny room,
rubbing the dust of his wings from your eyes.