Carol Ann Duffy

continued

My favorite book of Duffy's, however, is Rapture, a collection of love poems she published in 2005. This book follows a love affair from its beginning to its end, and beautifully situates this old story in its contemporary garb. In "Text" the new technology becomes a version of the coveted glance from the beloved:

I tend the mobile now
like an injured bird.

We text, text, text
our significant words.

I re-read your first,
your second, your third,

look for your small xx,
feeling absurd.

The codes we send
arrive with a broken chord.

I try to picture your hands,
their image is blurred.

Nothing my thumbs press
will ever be heard.

It's very hard to imagine an American poet able to deal with the situation, let alone the lilting rhythm and rhyme, without turning it all into a joke. Duffy laughs, but still finds it all essential.