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This steel may well outlive you.
The kiss of its cool, aching head—
ring-stunned, dumb and frozen.
The handle is no matter.
When it splinters like a struck bone,
burn it out. Take a new shaft made of oak,
drive a wedge to mate them firm.
A hammer wants for such pure contact—
the true swing falling through each nail
as if it were not there—
so, too, the hand that drives it down,
shivered in the blunt and striking grace.
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Browse back issues of The Atlantic that have appeared on the Web. From September 1995 to the present, the archive is essentially complete, with the exception of a few articles, the online rights to which are held exclusively by the authors.
See All Back Issues: September 1995
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What Critics Get Wrong About Creative Cities
Great Moments in the History of Boondoggles
The Pseudo-Suburbanist's Dilemma
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