The Burnt Child
July 6, 2023My Friends
July 6, 2023Some Last Questions
What is the head
A. Ash
What are the eyes
A. The wells have fallen in and have
Inhabitants
What are the feet
A. Thumbs left after the auction
No what are the feet
A. Under them the impossible road is moving
Down which the broken necked mice push
Balls of blood with their noses
What is the tongue
A. The black coat that fell off the wall
With sleeves trying to say something
What are the hands
A. Paid
No what are the hands
A. Climbing back down the museum wall
To their ancestors the extinct shrews that will
Have left a message
What is the silence
A. As though it had a right to move
Who are the compatriots
A. They make the stars of bone
W. S. Merwin
W.S. Merwin (1927-2019) was an American poet, translator, and environmental activist. Merwin's poetry often dealt with themes of nature, spirituality, and memory, and his most famous works include "The Carrier of Ladders" and "The Lice." He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1971 and 2009.