Mark Strand "The Remains"

My favourite poem is "The remains" by Mark Strand. His poems would often start with a question and end with an answer. I find this very unique, hence I like his poems.

Mark Strand was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada. His collections of poems include: Dark Harbor (1993), The Continuous Life (1990), Selected Poems (1980), The Late Hour (1978), The Story of our Lives (1973), The Sargentville Notebook (1973), Darker (1970), Reasons For Moving (1968), and Sleeping With One Eye Open (1964).

He has also published a book of prose, entitled The Monument (1978). His books on artists include William Bailey (1987) and Hopper (1994). His translations include two volumes of the poems of Carlos Drummond de Andrade. He has also published three books for children. He has been the recipient of Fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, Rockefeller, and Guggenheim Foundations and from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been awarded the Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets (1979), a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award (1987), the Bollingen Prize (1993), and has served as Poet Laureate of the United States (1990). He is currently the Elliott Coleman Professor of Poetry in the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University.

The Remains

I empty myself of the names of others. I empty my pockets.I empty my shoes and leave them beside the road.At night I turn back the clocks;I open the family album and look at myself as a boy.What good does it do? The hours have done their job.I say my own name. I say goodbye.The words follow each other downwind.I love my wife but send her away.My parents rise out of their thronesinto the milky rooms of clouds. How can I sing?Time tells me what I am. I change and I am the same.I empty myself of my life and my life remains.