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Howard Nemerov

The Little Aircraft

The little aircraft trudging through night, cloud, rain, Is neither alone nor lost amid the great Inverted ocean of the air, for a lane Invisible gives it intelligence, The crossing needles keep its heading right, The neutrally numbering voices of its friends Make of its blindness blind obedience, From one to another handing its destiny on The stages of the way with course and height Till finally it's funneled in and down Over the beacons along the…… More »

Rope's End

Unraveling a rope You begin at the end. Taking the finished work You pick it to its bits, … More »

Projection

They were so amply beautiful, the maps, With their blue rivers winding to the sea, So calmly beautiful, who could have blamed Us for believing, bowed to our drawing boards, In a large and ultimate equivalence, One map that challenged and replaced the world? … More »

The Old Soldiers' Home

Trumpet and drum, the old soldier said, What has become of the regiment, What of the company and the squad? Some must be living, though cracked or bent But I can't get it out of my head How trumpet and drum paraded before The marching young men, how they led Us, green and dumb, where the war Opened his mouth to be fed … More »

An Old Picture

Two children, dressed in court costume, Go hand in hand through a rich room. He bears a scepter, she a book; Their eyes exchange a serious look. … More »

The Priest's Curse on Dancing

"Dance for a year and a day!" he cried When we danced in the chantry of church And before his altar and down the nave, Leaping like fish in a wave, And danced out the door and over the dead While he stood there calling his curse— "Dance for a year and a day!" he said. "Dance till you die!" and some of us did. … More »

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The Unreal World

May 31, 2012

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