Points in Time
1971
Comb-bound: 106 pp.
Published: 1996
Price: $9.95
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Points in Time is a volume of poetry Brodsky wrote over five distinct periods of his life. Its chronologically arranged pieces are divided into parts defined by the geographical location in which he spent each period, including St. Louis, San Francisco, a "limbo" in Wisconsin, St. Louis again, and finally Farmington, Missouri, and Florida. A pivotal book serving as "a coronation of the forgotten soul," it follows the writer’s personal and vocational growth, chronicling his transition from "apprenticeship" to professional poetry writing.
Mistress Jan
Her wet lips, like rained earth,
Infect my mind with the sensual beginnings of seed,
And now I need to heed night's contrite birth
To bear this hounding loudness.
The pain of the body locked outside love
Stains the perfect, gentlemanly aloofness
I wear like medals from meaningless wars.
Her wine-ripe lips harvest my confession.
Guilt congests the eyes, and Mother Earth arises
From the matted grass where lovers lay,
Her odor forever perfumed on the breasted air
That skies our cloudy atmospheres. We survive
Our lovers' quarrel with the raging sun,
Run for cover under the heat of each other's kiss.
