The Late World
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More Lines on a Shield Abandoned During Battle
The one time I said something Awful to someone I didn’t know the meaning of, It hardly mattered to him how empty My head was As his three younger brothers jumped Down from the barn loft they slept in And closed ranks behind him. The hen he’d been about to kill Rejoined a few others feeding Near the stump. —Are you talking to me? he said. And it’s true-- As you and anyone who’s ever scattered knows, And usually sooner—someone or something Will ask what you mean-- The quicker The world lives in a person, The earlier he learns To ask. I’m trying To imagine racing over Someone’s countryside, and making off with its riches-- As you and your brief nation did-- Then coming up Face to face With one of them better armed. I’m glad we ran, both of us, having Straddled that line Beyond which There are only dogs’ jaws Candid About the river of death, And how there are no limits to its length, And how someone had better live To tell the others. |
