Sunday, December 16, 2012

Monday Poems: "Why We Are Truly a Nation" -- by William Matthews


Because we rage inside
the old boundaries,
like a young girl leaving the Church,  
scared of her parents.

Because we all dream of saving  
the shaggy, dung-caked buffalo,  
shielding the herd with our bodies.

Because grief unites us,
like the locked antlers of moose  
who die on their knees in pairs.

*     *     *     *     *

William Matthews (1942-1997) was a poet and essayist who held many academic positions during his career. His collections include Sleek for the Long Flight; Time & Money (1996), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Selected Poems and Translations, 1969-1991(1992).

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