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Rafael Campo

Rafael Campo was born on November 24, 1964 in Dover, New Jersey. He is of Cuban and Italian descent and grew up speaking Spanish. His paternal grandfather fled Franco-ruled Spain and immigrated to Cuba. He was then

What the Body Told

by Rafael Campo (b. 1964)

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2<author>
3  <person id="20772" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <firstname>Rafael</firstname>
6      <lastname>Campo</lastname>
7    </name>
8    <life-events>
9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1964</date>
10      <text-value>(b. 1964)</text-value>
11    </life-events>
12    <biography>y</biography>
13  </person>
14</author>
15

Not long ago, I studied medicine.

It was terrible, what the body told.

I'd look inside another person's mouth

And see the desolation of the world.

I'd see his genitals and think of sin.

Because my body speaks the stranger's language,
I've never understood those nods and stares.
My parents held me in their arms, and still
I think I've disappointed them; they care

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Poets Book of Days

September 27

H. D.(Hilda Doolittle) died, 1961

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

What book is sometimes called the first novel though it contains nearly 800 poems?

Answer

The Tale of Genji was written by Murasaki Shikibu. Despite the description as a novel, it was written in a form that combines prose with poetry and contains nearly 800 poems, which have come to be esteemed more highly than the prose.

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