‘the light which was fis rented is spiritual not body rkness, by which one understand that ie ramed fom ts ow forslessness towards ligh, and just as it was made after the creator and thus was formed, soto, afer evening, morning was made, meaning that ater acknowledgemet ofits own proper nature of is nor being what God i,t goes back ro praising the light which God himself sand by which ie is formed as it ges upon it — Augustine, The Literal Meoning of Genesis, 1.22.39 Hive you knowledge ofthe morning? = Thoreau, Journal, Jly 16, 1851A TREE Ietakes a life co understand a re. You start by climbing high, by holding eggs Like eyes in the curved eyelids of young hand, “Thea takeaway plump scratchy ness, sil warm, By thinking other things. Branches will wave As though ro sek your help, but then they Bo Jus like the ants and leaves with brie veins. Summer will pas with ich dack smells of earth {And then the sound of wind in branches — yes, “That too wil lide into the void you hold With next doors silky oak cha vaguely sighed (One early morning, deep in the pulp of Spring, “Then fell on power ines and through a house. It akes life to understand a wee, Bat lf climbs quickly, climbs with claws, and so “You haven stood beneath tee for long ‘When ll cha’ lets sparkle up thet, high, A lstening you stretch your eyes 0 see, ‘That beckons you roward it, nonetheles, And somehow tells you that there is 30 voidTHE MOUSE ‘The mouse’ death ills up the eat for hours. Ielives inside her eyes and tarts to dance; Te makes the slightest sound turn slow and fa; And muselesin each le ae calm and fierce. The mouse’ death fils up the flooe for hours. It runs from chaie ro shelf and bac again; Iesteals sof toys from kids who want to plays ‘And brings another cat join the game. “The mowse’s death fills up the room for hours. It grows 30 big its bristles brush the doors Ietakes our breath and tums ft into wounds; ‘And walls look down on what will happen here. “The mouse's death fils up the mous itself. A moth will make life and death the same ‘A death wil shrink to nothing in an eyes “And muscles in each eg are calm and calm A WORD Some words ae dipped i silence fora wile, So when you murmur forest, wine, or sleep ‘The ocher words to lee and righ seer loud Like people ona street ouside a church. ‘Some words come wrapped in a horizon — far, ‘Alone, an final bring a desert home, And if you write one on an empty page Your earthly years may be quite swallowed up. And there's word that has a darker night ‘Than any dead man knows it fist was said Before tall shadows fondled vines and tees, And in ich quit that word sill peaks in you.you ‘You come to me in thick old roots of night While tracks are changing gears, although you kiss Like a slack orchid tongue in Cains, and (Can't make you ou, and so you call to me {Acafternoon in ight rain when dreams Go whirling in Saigon beneath wer heat So faa hese your voise although the wind ‘Will weap me ina house made our of grief ‘Which tells me nothing new, and so you cise In smells of mint o fine young April ight AAs though you were a cat with arching back Who wants attention now, so I mus stir [Myself and listen for you in the blood “That beaks upon my ea, and in odd gaps Berwoen the jokes my daughters love for you Have something bg to tell me, people say, neath the sweetest and the lowest note ‘Of waxwings splashing back from Mexico, ‘Way down beneath the groaning of night trucks, ‘And down, way down, beneath the frst warm wind, INSIDE ‘There is. horror growing deep inside eles ech but cannot seit face And I mast cover i with soerow’s lacey So itcan linger there ell have died And I must sic for yeas in simple lack And leit always think thae am kind [And lett lowly feed upon my mind And feel it waiting there not looking backBRISBANE {took a narrow road, bur Brisbane came along, Is pushed its old verandabs past me as I went Along with yards of mosin cloth, mosquito coil; Ii shoved abead a bunch of sweaty kids with pors. Some nights I'd wake because dhe darkness was on heats Some days P'sleep because aloikeet or snake Had dreamed its way inside my bed the night before; Some afternoons young thunderstorms would bea the sky And then iid inside the city where Hives Tecame out in the summer when I stepped outside And saw a sky too big and blue to be believed ‘Or when I knew alle sweat on young gel ips [And now I think es going home a last s though Ieknows tha it most gather round the river there And make its people sleep in canopies of white ‘And take the litle breath that clings around thee words 7 e 7 = OUR TRUTH We fist made love in that back shed that shook. ‘Whenever thee was wind, and were so quiet ‘When we leaned ove, kissed, and found my hand ‘Upon your thigh where ile hairs grew wild Inalleha overwhelming summer light [And then some people came and knocked too hard ‘And we jas held on tight chroughout the storm As though one shee could hide us fom our truth, ‘And that was twenty-some short years ago ‘And sill see you geting dressed when they rad sloped back home, not bothering our door, Your foot upon the bed beside my hand, Your almond eyes, your barely legal smile, ‘And sill ong for what we never had, A night like any night that people have Intheie old bed, me smelling your fine hair ‘And waking up when day is very young, And holding you again, and kissing you, You turning over asthe bedsprings groan ‘And slowly breathing inthe we, ripe eatSUMMER Days without creases, days with hours on fie: (Oat inthe sn ine ils with honey haie ‘They laze; they burns they blaze along the beach, ‘Thick honey thickly dripping fom cei flesh, Saas BIRDSONG Leaves shine with birdsong, and the dead are calm, ‘Ah Dark One, let me hear you speak to me — Inside hal-bured words, if chat mus be, ‘Words lft in books wher they ean dono haem, (Or words that open so that I might see A summer farmland where fine light is gain And grows straight up co where fierce seraphs reign ‘© Dark One, lee me hear you speak tome,COLLOQUIES ‘So many men ‘Are kneeling when I kneel (Nor counting one Who tums and looks away) [And some are men ‘Who lel thie death ie hard ies folded righly Tike a parachute) And some ae boys (On highs of August ight (Theie fingers love Slow curves and sft rich hair) And when Istand ‘Those men and boys are one (Not counting him Who tums and looks away) A, everything Begins with ust one word From you, Dark One, Even iie’s not sid Even ft (Can find a word back then When all my words Were waiting for light word sl hid Inside the ash of words “Thar people spoke [And thought that they might ive A yes, that word “The darkest oe, tha waits Beneath the rest “The word no one can say3 ‘What comes with i, This tan, fine almond rain ‘That pecks my face “That lites all the ground Peshaps a cil From somevhete in the sky Where birds won't go And sunligh pricks like ice Perhaps a till From somewhere in vast dack “That sunlight hides That makes the mind eecoil Achill, a the, “That comes on summer days When there is ain ‘That ames of almond flesh 4 ‘There ace no words, Dark One, no words a all Just thes black marks ‘These streched and knotted sounds So you must come ‘And brood upon my page ‘And warm those words Uni fine racks appear Teak 0 you ‘And all my words black out You talk to me I words lke morning snow There are no words, Dark One, no words a all Tread your book Bat you compose in white5 Don’t speak, Dark One, ‘You never do, you know, Pm beter off Jos listening co clouds Even if they {Look quick and slope away Even if they range me with tick ain ‘That I might hear ‘Whole overtures of snow (Or wind in eaves “That rushes chrough each vein sconce it did ‘When there was ust we two ‘ Dark is the crack f Inside that iile ‘A tapeworm void Inside the winds raw how “The tree that bends ‘Over a threatened house “The hunger of ats Groven wild beneath the house ‘Tobe that crack And know the thrill of ce ‘Tobe the tree “That strikes and means no harm ‘And soto turn “The moment's heavy lock ‘Ad know the dark ‘And eyes that ext through Bone7 A snowflake fall (On a gray evening, Tn Ackansas ‘And falls through Ie falling too Inside the book I read Inside my fear And through a prayer to you cause L know ‘That you would make sing Innotes Pd heat (Only alone with you Its fling now ‘And fling fr al time Toxo a pene OF that fete limping eat ls 8 ‘The whole thing's mad And don’t you say i not You're up above In those od rings of light Or deep inside My felings, thoughts and loves ‘Thar see night ‘That slipped away from days Took for you Inevery crack of x And serape away Each pleasure that you give You wanta game Ofhide-gorseek with me But I grow up ‘Aad there's no time for timeNames fall away From things on samimer nights ‘And wale widh them “Then fade through thick locked doors ‘And so-we find Strange things around our bed ‘When we wake up ‘Ourselves most strange of ll Soil bids Make all hat noise a daven ‘That maybe brings ‘The names of things back home With you, Dark One, ‘The strangest one of all ‘Who hides in words ‘And makes things stranger stil 10 shard, Dark One, A single day is hard (ven the Good (Casts shadows afer noon) eel the sun stent the rain Bue something's lost, [And is forever lost, Don't ask, Dark One, Don't ask me whae iis Don’t as for me ‘Tolook the other way I wake and look wake and look for you (Even the Good (Casts shadows before noon)aNEXT YEAR Sometime next year my mother will be dead And so plan my tip to Zambi I stare my vase display of butterflies, write ut all my life i singe space ‘at mother died some rwenty years ag0 Her house i vacant, needs a slap of pat Theat her walking round these summer nights, fel her breathing set upon my neck And know that she has years ahead of hes, Each fresh one coming ints own sweet way, Some quick as glances a the tai lights ‘And some a low as bity northern grass So Iwill stay beside the Brisbane River ‘With thick, damp summer evenings, with my lamp (ts shining wings both pinned against che wall) And wait for her to vst when she fkes, And this time round I won't play dead enyslf, ‘This time will have lived my life before With greybash, hareboest, and galagos, ‘And this time, when she ies, se wil come home,THE NEW HOUSE ‘Come now lets ea the splinters in the house And get the awful ove right away Let's dress ourselves in slated shadows fast And drink che deepest wine that one can buy L's standin corners where stray cats would pee And pick our teeth with drt sic inch nails “The builders left around the kitchen floor Let’ live a handed year inside this house Let's each be keyhole to the big wild work And se each other's darkness in full ight Lets ey to feel the face ofthis our house And taste is summer evenings on our rongues Les be the yeas inside this living eoom Lets call the attic Innisfail or Cains [Because the next steps somewhere in the sun ‘And let our bedroom be America SUMMER August: fat summer lounges everywhere, Enjoying all she grasses’ loopy gseen ‘And thar young sky whose blue has grown so ich, “The birds drink deep before they take the sie 1 walk around, and reach inside the flesh Of whice oaks, yellow warblers, squirrel piney And fel their puzled gazes sete dowen And start to fel at home inside a world [barely know because Fm new to life, Though ies ol. ‘Bruised lighe before a storm; Aad if came the rapture would be clean, Indiana ie would sweep each soul Up in its tide of self and vitor. (© lay me down, Dark One ay me down Until you bend tomes be like the moon. ‘Thai bathes my row of ben tomato plants, © lay me down, until Lean be sweet, Until he der will kiss my eyes, and let ‘Me learn from them, until the summer rubs Her sweaty flesh against me one las ime.NO GUIDE righ goldfish swam in pies we gazed and sat Ina pagoda teased by summer cain; [danced for usa while then chased a cat Drops fll into our slightly mad champagne. Wind signed its autograph inside a chime “Then lett go, but to another wind “That stole the other's name: a perfec rime ‘We drank, ate roased chicken, something tinned, Before huge thunder came in massive heaves And made us grab our glasses, run inside, “The hil released vase silence through its leaves, ‘The silence stood before us as our guide, Bat one we dat care to take that days We chatted crazily of cats, crow, About the waterfall nd lives astray, ‘And then dark came, and it was time to go. RATS luge rats have run across our century And burrowed deep inside some smiling truths. “They came up from the country, fram the city, ‘They scrambled up our drains and ove oof? ‘And burrowed dep inside some smiling truths ‘We heard chin rumors that they lived up chere, ‘They scrambled up our drains and over oof ‘An upy truth that we must learn to wear, We heard chin cumors that they lived up there And watched the darkness growing day by da, ‘An ugly ruth that we must learn to weas, And now thee world is surely her to stay, Ie wasnt you, know it wasn't me; “They came up from the country, from the city, And you and I ean simply look and see lage rats have run actoss our century.RIVER STONE t's good to hold this jagged ever stone. says, “I'm here,” and that’s a whole lot more ‘Than people will, who lke to talk and moan, Look over you shoulder a a bulging door, ‘While I can hold this stone the whole day long ‘And leis roughness sometimes rouge my skin ‘And let it coolness sometimes he my song ‘And et its wildness draw me deep within y DARK ROOM Dark room, with scribbled paper on my desk, [My childea’sbzehday cards, bent paper clip (Old books where calm and violent fathers ask ‘To overhear strange words on God's tight ips, Kind oom that doesnt ask a thing of me, | shank you for your peace this evening, For being here, beside my walnut tee, ‘While I sireaing, hearing crickets sng, And thialy thinking mother died today Some twenty years ago a night ike this Dark room, I hear the crickets have thei sys No word from God, or from the one I missMARCH White wind it rushes forthe throat as though [Ws sl out prowling in Saskatchewan ‘Where cold has las it nips the tanagers Just hack from Panama, their garden skinned “Then beaten hard with branches of black oak Big bruising clouds hang ound all morning long ‘And mumble something dark aboue geen bail Inside, fre serches, cracks is knuckles, spits, [Not knowing tat it downs is final meal, ‘And cats go prowling round the rviggy deck. ‘With wild, quick eyes. A window weleomes aie — But not for long. Our back, young water tips Along a unknown bed of stones and roots And knows the oldest joy, and warbler probe Tn larva tents. The ast of small, blunt days And strtightened rooms al full of warmed skim ight o ‘Young sunlight ror in pieces onthe sver; ‘lung, sudden rain that hangs upon wild grass ‘Wind running north and fing sleeping eres: And the shadows ae growing. Now evening makes sharp angles in che street And windows open onto other ives — “Their chances almost touchable from here — And the shadows are growingFATHER (One day I saw my father being boen: “The King was everywhere, and people sat In double-decker lik so many exes, “Though time was sale and smel of maton fat, So f could hanly live just long enough ‘Tose him being pushed ou hal ablaze, ‘And hea him ery a il, gulping at ‘The coal-flecked air of London in those days ‘When time was thick and fo got caught in ehroas, ‘The King a “good egg” stil, hough spreading gir Acound the globe, with that thi ine of ed Like buses pushing though the curdling ai, “That took men everywhere in caps and scarves, Though time was wearing thin for many then, (Our fina war sill dragging death back home The day I saw my fighting father born. LLLPRAYER ‘Show me the erat Bur notin those loose wrappings ofthe wind, (Or covered by the litle steam of words “That warms old les, Show ito me In blossoms as they pray on san-black boughs (Of dogwood down our tee, that petal-prayer (Of whive and pink ‘That slows the lood ‘And has the day pee off its shining skin ‘And brings bee angel closer jst co smell ‘What prayer is 1 want t ive Like a water spider over my own life ‘And touch again the month we fli love ‘Ad fee is flesh, I want to say Farewell tall the darkness in my life As the dogwood soaks up every bi of night “Then sings your name: Give me that month And let it be the one great prayer I breathe ‘Without a word, thet flies out naked, hot And pierces yo ”GRANDMOTHER, CHARLOTTESVILLE Poor thing, see you ust one step outside ‘That smooth cruel paradise, a lumpy bag Incieher hand, abil limb, a hot Small house to gett, half an hous fom here, ‘The air grown thick and sweaty everywhere, Bur alk won't make it any easier, ‘Won't make old feet go any fase, no, ‘Won't make wid sun slide right behind that bill ‘A moment sooner than God wants it [My grandma would have sai the ste, you know, “Two bags hard dragging on her wrists, her dog, Fat inher shopping basket, rongue al loose, And unforgiving London with ts ice Its bigemouthed blast of wind around her throat, As she came up the Heathway, pling hard, ‘With something on the tp of her dry tongue, Something she thought say to he old man, When he gor home that nigh, but very at, Smelling of railway oil and pipe smoke, yes, ‘One step from doing betes, just one sep. FEBRUARY ‘There i weariness that finds a home at lst Inside your bones as winer bie is tied thin month, As hough a death were leaning on you al he day ‘And weighed a shadow more than any man, Wo men, Your fathers death perhaps that must come very soon, Grandfathers death tha’s been and gone yet hangs rounds [And there's «weariness thats older than the dust “That spnifex wil ell you all about, and more, (One quite at home inside those shatered, simple rocks You find out west in Queensland where red roads give ou, And in those words you whisper to yourself at night, “Words with dark rooms that open onto darker roms; And there's wearines tha’ vaguely young, that runs Irs bony fingers through the fringes of your thoughts And dls their edge: louche angel ofa death, your own Pethaps, though one still hanging loose and a los. »DAVID {want you to come back 10 meas you once were ‘When Iwas twenty, sad, and knowing nothing mach, And summer’ light was tick, che juice of nectarines, ‘And ral came quickly lke the second glas of wine, {And you were young then to0, or so seems to me ‘As I ceep up dark stats to be the age you were, ‘And sil I sometimes think that I might somehow raen ‘Acorner find you slouching there, and all our days ‘Will be distil into a lunch that goes astray ‘nnd we wil gossip some, then swap new books of verse, ‘And you will slowly pall your gent, wicked smile ‘And somehow find more wine, and words will swarm ike bes. SUMMER Tewas fat ripe peas, thar summer day, ‘And we were wading through it kiss by kis, ‘With nothing much to do bur be ia love ‘And vaguely lll around the riverbank ‘With loose and lazy smells of thick young grass Jost freshly cu, and sarred with fines sain — “The city pouring out ts pawpaw light “That light now half fermented after lunch _My eyes went barefoot, running afer you, ‘And found you everywhere, and then our hands ‘Went slowly wild in unforgiving heat. ‘The stones kepe half ou secrets hidden tightINSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING YOUR BED ~ 1s bes to fill your bed with lots of stones. (That way it won'e ise up on some dark night.) Place chem quite gently on your shee, ust ight, And le thee coolness harden all your bones, Don’t start wich pebble fom fse-flowing creeks Unless you doa't propose to sleep at all (Unless your gil likes sex against a wall, Unless you have elaborate echniques.) Don’ stat with massive racks, like those they hauled “To make Stonehenge and other nutty sites (Unless you get's half mad for Wieea rights, Unless she takes you for some later Skld,) Prefer around, smooth stone that smells of ce, ‘That's lived simple life inside a stream, ‘That lets you warm your way int its dream (And makes you wake up swearing once or ewice.) WINTER Pleasure abounds in folding warm dey clothes. 1s ike the laxuy of smelling eats, Stretched ou so ine hefore ie with claws, Rich truths lve in their eyes and fur, and that’s How it should be I's best ro fold alone In snow light thick slow flakes eat play the ai les best o leave yourself, mere thought and bone, In cloudy igh, ashe in hand, aware ‘Of nothing but fabrics kiss and cling As the willow basket grows up brighter, higher, ‘Asyou slowly yawn into a waem old thing And stretch yourself before tae purving isAFTERNOON A winter afternoon seraped tothe quick; {play some blues and let the music shine ‘And simply put my life away an hour ‘And live the time that only snow can give, And so my life comes back to me, as though Inwere another's, fast, with clumsy heare And fectng ike 4 needle going wild ‘As snow falls quiely over New Orleans, ‘Over my childhood with its clingy nights, ‘Their grief grown big and ugly now Tok, ‘And fee, thin decades with thee scribbled riffs, ‘and fale years I held then tore apart “The evening is out hometand andi lasts Una our trouble is another shore Seen only if you squine as dakness comes Inits own time, and takes uv all away: THAT SHADOW Iwas immense, that shadow ofthe book "You read again today: you fe ite dark [Encompass you and every word to come, +0 you ssid, ‘And so the day went by, with trees and cats ‘And so your death would sgn each single ded As though ic could belong to you alone And share your bed, And so the day will end, with cats and tees (Outside, in dark, as though a page ha tamed, ‘Bar not by you, and nota book you know ‘Or could have read,DARK BIRD ‘What do you wane with me today, dark bird? ‘Why are you ing low, beneach that branch? ‘know your shadow: you were long since gone, [My killer, ough-winged swallow, mourning dove, Death plays its flute with all your bones, dark bird, “You brood within my nest of breath, dark bird, Your razor claw is in my eye, dak bid, ‘Sweet finches ae in blossom here, dack bird, My father’s dying now, dark bir, you know, He fels your shadow now, dark bird, you know, ‘His bones are hollow now, dak bed, you know, He's tumed to feathers now, dark bed, you know, “Take to another land, dark bird Ay now, Go snap sweet sunflower souls, dark bid, fy now, A thousand deaths await you there, dark bird, Fly fast dak bird ly fas ly past dark bed LPRAYER Dark One, [come to you by stepping back Into a word of pawpaw scented ai, ‘Tied witha string that’s broken here and there ‘By boats tha cur entirely loose and crack “The massive, tender picture of the bays Rosella, butchered, and lovikeet All speak the ancient language of wet hes ‘And. lazy river dreams itself away 1 stand here, Dark One, on a naerow brink Before life {know full well and you, Before loagig for ie knew, ‘And ell myself chat stepping back a blink ‘Wold bring me close to you, a8 once way ‘When crumpled water showed its dark, wid life And brooding morning shadows held me safe ‘And everything was ovefull with us.IBIS This, high bird, you stalk around the lake, ‘Your long bill breaking through dead water skin “Tfind what life sere is. bis, A moment folds its wings see “The clouds are feathers and aferfeathers 10, 1 seea feather fallen on the path, T pick ie up, breathe it in And eit ter on my palm And fly finger down its spines fre if A thousand interlocking worlds are cere, live lif in each of therm Invaia, for thee is only one want, high bid, one, only ne. Ibis, No enemy, tell how to name a love “That lips berween what words there Ex mii codet Amor — aks, Willit beso? Bright bird, come sing 10 me ‘Of oly love in your old broken moan Because Fn falling through her name, Because with her the shadows gleam, Because her souls a wire that runs straight dhrough My heart, Iis, the dead get farter on (Our seraps of life with thee fog bills, Bat you, you know that we must lve - And notin vain. Tis, lift up your wing: That lite patch of scale there. I see You'e wounded too, my ibis lve. Bright bird, another feather falls Upon the path I pick it up and run A fingertip right dough the vane, and live "Ten thousand lives with her Ibis, ‘Come eat the eggs the darknes ays Inside my heart, come eat my scrap of heat, Geasshopper heart, come croak of holy love, ‘Come find new lf beneath my skin ‘And lol sing her name with mine aWITH YOU “There are huge shadows hanging in your past, Tn mine as well A wind blows theough the night And morning finds them stuck just where they were [Not een the sharpest nals ean scrape them of [want to drive along those thin lose roads ‘That fel cheic way past damaged trees a night, And leave those shadows in back rooms, with books From high school that we'll never ead again, So les tur left ovtside, a8 quick a8 death, ‘And see how far our ancient car will go: Peshaps well get down south, and get smell “Those feds near Farmville wher rich silence grows, Perhaps wel pas the border, splucering, ‘And find the Carolinas waiting there ‘And afresh momning too. Who needs the bees? ‘With you the sun makes honey in our mouths, on NIGHT STORM ‘You great big shambling oa, Quit your growing ‘And put that ightning down Before you cut youself Before I felt your shove {saw her cea, in he black dress. So let me sleep, and maybe still She'l slowly slink ioHOT NIGHT EURYDICE After two weeks alone Im loos in ie: Siow lordly clouds, ‘The cts jump on our bed for a soirée A fne-spun summer day, And pick cheie way around ay warm buffet dark smells ‘Then knead between my legs then up above, Of gras in seed, | shake offal the sheets, and wake a wo You coming through And find thigh i being easped quite numb, ur kitchen doo, white dress Another cat is making for my sem! Teoned by the sun, “The darkness murmurs it enjoys it roo. Your colarbones Barely hiding, With lips apaet As fo taste the morning ae Alive with igh, Your eyes Caressing mine, Hai over cheekbones, blown ‘Across your mouth, ‘Those noble clos Aloof, yer knowing then ‘What door You pas through now.THE MUSEUM OF SHADOWS ‘You'l find iin the dingy pare of tw, Ics thermostat i always set way low “To limit ime chat’ spent with all that dark. (Od folk are quickly weeded frm the line. Umbrologists have glowing labs inside, ‘Machines that catch rae shadows from the past ‘The shadow ofan angel's trembling wing While wating for the Vingin's yes ono; And there's Hall of Oddball Shadows, too: Renaissance lords who had their shadows st Late afternoons while lazing back with wine “Thee potais swagger over ten fect all Go sea silhouette of Ghengis Khan (Or Viad bent over, working on a spike, ‘A Japanese at home inside wall, Go se young Cleopateas nose, or else “The Hall of Modern Shadows, neatly done: Curators go from door to door with knives “That cut a shadow fre. My worthy friend, Soon you may Fela cold blade at your hel. _ HARD UP “The cat my loving parents gave me had no ei, [My father said that i was every bit as good: “Just fantasize a furry flourish in the air “Whenever pusy comes inside to have her food My cat mcowed but had no whiskers, not a one: [A brush of nothings firmly sprouted citer side, “Well get them when we ean,” my mother tightly sad, As though the London law was waiting right outside, ‘The eat my parents bought me had no cars at all. They cos lo,” they sighed, and with a big pound mark Slipped other room of Brighton rock and toby jus, “That smoky, careful room of TV in che darks “We can’ afford the whole cat kit,” they sid again, “Well ge the paws one day but on the "Never Neves!” And us sa there looking blankly back a ther, With putsy plopped beside me, licking thin blank fuTHE BUTCHER A line of blood was dropping heavily ‘Upon the sawdust floors ‘These was a carcas, red and white all over, ‘When we walked through the dooe “The butcher lad his knife upon the bench, join us drooled hafeut “My mother asked about jab for me, “The butcher shook his gt, And said “I'm sorry Misss, the boy won't do, We need a big ‘un ere.” “The fat upon his chops was thick and white, A porker showed is reat, ‘The blood dripped thickly down and down and down. “Too cold to stop ad jaw. ‘The big knife glinted past sharp bis of bone. Outside, the day was ew MORNING KNOWLEDGE [My gentle father ded when day was young, ‘When there was very litle lf to take: Geay face, a raft of bones, bite ache, A word oF ew sil ving on my tongue. ‘There's bread that only dying men can est, ‘Worn words tha only weary men cans Sometimes thse wispy words jus slip away, Sometimes that gritty bread falls ona sheet, In chose las days my dad ate nothing much, His words were mostly gnawing at warm ait Dark One, be the one to smooth his hai, You be the one who les him know my touch, soBREAD there was only a hunk of bread, days ol, there was only a glas of somthing strong, (And candles feasting inthe simple cold) there was only a woman, hands like songs there was only an evening playing blues (And frets fickering along the road) there were only trees tha froze in queues, there was only a heel of brea, days oldDESCARTES Descartes: live of lass against the eye. Descares:perching souls upon his thumb, [And Descartes’ finger teasing Hele’ thigh, ‘Then drawing love hearts on her prety bum. And Descartes brooding ona blackened soul “Then whispering to Gode “You must be rel” ‘And Descartes on an early evening sol, His sharpened nals vie around ala Descartes with diamonds singing in his brain ‘While choosing rubble for another fight. Descartes: his tuth thick sweetness, ike coeanes “Then throwing darts at demons in the night. DOMINIQUE “There i photo of us, Dominique, With my mouth ope, saying, “Dominique” 1 losin father’s book, ma Dominique (He's ash beside a flower, Dominique) {A thousand tle birds ery, “Dominique!” For you had fifteen years, ma Dominique Go back: you're safe there ine there, Dominique, Slip ack inside that snap, ma Dominique | see your long bare legs, ma Dominique (You're walking through my dreams, ma Domingue) Your voice nets in my ear, ma Dominique (Lamour la distance,” ma Dominique) ‘You taught me my fst French, chére Dominique, Bright ite words like “chat” et “Dominique” ‘And you weee ftea thea, cre Dominique, ‘And I was ten but yours, chére DominiqueFALL Only a teat {Low on a ewig as evening falls (Ona rough path (One late October day So many paths eckon in that one ling leaf And night so close ‘This late October day NOVEMBER “There green that wants to say its mame ‘But then retreats ro sing, “Farewell Farewell" ‘And there are others, veined and tanned, on show Tn bitter morning light Some women waiting loosely forthe bus, Some punks in heaters, language all on Fry ‘And maples sucking up some fine old blood. And ready for a fight.THE WINTER DARK ‘You can forgive the day for its irc ria “That starts when morning sleep is md, “That satters afternoon Before itr, ‘You can forgive the night for waking up ‘Again at ro when it should be ‘Atunnel to the end ‘Of everything, ‘But not those words tora from the winter dark, ‘Words crushed then slammed across the room, ‘Words clawing through sof flesh “To maul the mind Al night hee redback words go rusting pas, All day ber bier words pour down: "You can't forgive chem — then, ‘You can forgive. tert cus through tis fruit you squeeze ‘While rsntime willy blossoms here, ‘While hearing hard gray words Fall heavily ‘Upon uneasy things of day and night, ‘This mango flesh we fla alive ‘This mud chrough which we wall ‘And almost slip. DREAMING OF AN OLD FRIEND All day fa brooding clouds blow by But you old frend, don't come to town. Insead you're lit in dreams three nights Asthough your sir’ eunning down, ‘When we must part you always sigh, "Wife, ids... hard to leave the fray” “Besides, che dough «the fackn’ flights." Your smile says “Life's ast gone astray." DCs new crop of boys get igh ‘While you, sa frend, sand sil and wave. And you, don’ prate of ‘Dream and “rights ‘My frend can'e dream inside the grave.LULLABY for Marion, my sister Ab lly ul, burterbones, Your mother's pu you in say hands And gone away to peel the stones: "Nobody understands A lly ally eathereown, ‘Why all hese big hot tears tonight? ‘The sky has holes, hin rain runs down, ‘You father’s lst his igh Ab lly lly kick’ shove, ‘The world is dak indeed, my dea, rock you in the darknes, lve, ‘And wish tha you were her. A lly lly ede ears, (Gur parents boeh have said adieu — ‘And you've been dead these sixty yeas [Now I must ear you HELL SONGS 1 Don't know where been Can think wih this mad “This fuckin” with gin Damn gets in the Blood Late wakin’ bare-assed Eyes stuck with olderud Jost havin’ a past Sure serews up the blood My brain all aapin My brain all thud “This fuckin with gin Damn rote all che blood Don't know her real name Just know Pm stud ‘Ain't no one to blame 1s justin the blood2 ‘what have I done? Some white, softies Like maggots writing in bruised lsh ‘A spread of prety gils whose thighs ‘Once whispered, Love, be mine, be rab. ‘A fine, hard-plucked and trembling uth “Tendered to God as though he cared “Then weapped in words for yawning youth (Oh yes —a handsome ded hal-dared ‘Then snatched right back in rage or fear Dead nights fierce futures scarce begun; ‘And one long bridge now just a pet. “These years, this face: What have I dove! 3 Only a cigarete “To keep me warm ‘With night ashy bet ‘And day a swarm ‘The cold comes quik with dark “The dark wih knives 1 sleep way inthe park Know who survives You think that Pm a theeat ‘My theea’sa storm Only acigarete “Tokkeep me warmFATHER At night my father came and said, "Dear boy.” ‘And went ro win a litle sleep, ‘And I would say, "Good night,” Both words kept tight And some nights father came and said “My son,” ‘And I would turn rowatds the wall And finely fel his touch As nothing much, ‘And then one day my father shut his face And now he comes on windy nights "And s4ys, “Good night, my son.” "Neither has won.HANGERS “Two boys are hanging there,” my sister said, Two det ones ike you.” “Our father srang ‘em up lst week," she said, “By now theyll be quite blue.” My parents oom had curtains al ‘And shadows flash with e “The wardrobe lived inside that darker world ‘Of shouts and eres and tears. “That wardrobe creed across my deeam all week knew where bad boys are, Iss door would sping fll open in my face ‘And spill a smell of ac ‘And then one day, when everyone was out, 1 slowly — tured the lock: Taw the dead boys ia ny winter coats ‘And ran sight round che Block oSMY FIRST TIE My father gave me my frst ie ‘When I was allt young. (© ong and thin and black it was And I climbed up a eung, “ri wear it your funeral, da,” Isai, absorbed with back, My father grew afoot ro tall: “Maybe Fl rake ic back.” He knotted it behind my neck And Ishoe up an inch, looked into mittor hard, ‘Aan saw my father finch ‘When going through my fathers things — Stained medal, bric--beae — found that tea week to late: “Maybe Fl rake i back.” DEAD LETTER Dear father, how the weeks go by ‘And how E kot and knot the lie “That if cal you will be there, Bue then my body sends a flare The sorrow ofthe eve ‘The sorrow of the ear les months since Thad any plans And only darkness understands Tannot live chi simple cheat, Asumme life turned winter sweet: ‘The sorrow ofthe hands ‘Tre sorrow ofthe fet Took outside: che wind is fesh “That forces through che narrow mesh [And ells me tha I've paid my loan, Bor stil Ise you flesh and bone ‘The sorrow of the flesh “The sorrow of the boneDICE [My father taught me thar the word was “die” ‘When there was only one. We diced together through long summer nights ‘And now there's ony one - TOMORROW A breeze silks through my room and smells of oak [As evening gathers ron the house: "The firefly neighborhoods Press close these days [And I walk out, a8 thin as summer ean, ‘And sce the houses holding stil “And hear the cinnamon speech ‘Of lightning life. eter brought its silence to my door ‘A life or two ago today ‘And threw its weight around “Though lies sill barn: “Tomorrow rain may change is slant again, ‘Blind wind may push the other way, [New lies may fier past ‘And houses lastTHE DEAD [Ah now the dead are coming, clocks in hand, Uprooted from thse parties at che park “That's weeds and daisies now they're calling late, Late August steaming down, they ride i rough, All loose and marvelous on gold long beams, ‘They cashing in che pleasure of fat peach, And in the seams of clothes that sleep in los, “They're siding close a dusk ia windows now Because tha’ all hey have, except fo us, ‘Theyre filling i the gaps berween our vows, And in the words chemeelves when they go dark, And in the dark itself when there's no word Teis the night that enters us and not ‘The afternoon that whispers velvet days ‘And darkly simmers there with weeds and words, [Arno itis the night tha knows the flesh, Its the dead that call and cll to0 late ‘And not the night with its daek words and ots, Teisthe dead that cll, caress ont flesh, ‘Clock on, cajole, command, and call agai, THE DARKNESS Women you know are weeping in the night “They weep in backyards, upstairs rooms, they weep Because of words too cold and words 00 cheap. (Their sons are londed forthe fight) “They weep in kitchens everywhere, in dough ‘That's haked into the daily read of ge, Because of talk that follows ike a hit (Ieenters ears then aims a blow.) “They're weeping in the malls because of wa [cause their harvest sons come home half dads, “They weep at work, at home, they weep in bed (Because the daskness cries for more.) ‘Women are weeping when good words go wrong And when they chew the brad they baked in fright ‘They walk out through thick doors they lock a night. (They eat, they yar, they rub along.)LATE QUESTIONS IN WINTER ‘Are you the rain my grandma knew so well? ‘You're cold enough and sharp enovgh, my find. Peshaps you're cushing from the same wet hel, Pechaps you're lines some minor devil penned. And yous are you the snow she hated so, ‘That danced around her head and bit her hands? Sick slushy sno, thick coal dust snow shi snows ‘Well, maybe now she's gone she understands — (Or maybe that's just something forthe bids. And you, dark winds, ate you the same young Teds? And you, old stew are you her final words? "More ain our there than hais on all out heads.” WINTER Als ce rain tnkling in ‘The biner dark, hear that you life r00 Is hore and hard asFATHER KEVIN HART Some nigh ft Death eaves ome ‘And whee, “Now you fate’ bere ‘Andy ian, agin tose ‘Althea in tow back here pen Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia. is the Edwin B, Kyle Professor of Christian Studies, And en ome pha cath ator fine volume of ey, ‘And chat about the dead this year rae one pele eect And hall moe fee (Usivesiy of Noe Dame Pres, 208 including Young Rain ‘And then mad Death lays down the law And drags out dad for me to see And I reach out 3 bony claw ‘And watch him pll him bac from me