Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DRAWING FROM LIFE, by CLARENCE MAJOR


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DRAWING FROM LIFE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I wake to sounds


I wake to sounds
of garbage collectors
banging cans,
making their rounds,
wake to taxi horns.
I wake to a dragon slain by Cadmus.
Must I wake -- ?
Must I stand tall?
To be both real
and drawn -- that is reason
to stay, to endure the noise.
The window of this small room.
Poised in the room, I look out.
I see the rows and rows of wheat,
I see the pale green death-figure
whacking wheat left and left.
I see the death's-head moth,
floating around the booming
birth of Bacchus. Noise!
Everything today is watermarked
on Ingres paper.
I leave my dungeon
shirtless, shoeless, and wander
-- by accident --
into Geronimo's cage
at the first World's Fair,
sit down with Geronimo --
endure the giggles,
endure the spitballs,
endure the peanuts,
endure the pennies,
the rotten apples.
Standing behind us
a grand old gorilla
lifts his unruly eyebrows,
wondering
what in hell
is he talking about.
Am I talking?
He strokes my clean
high cheekbones,
kisses my jawline.


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net