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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MADMAN OF THE SOUTH SIDE by CLARENCE MAJOR

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: I MET YOUR HUSBAND IN A BOOKSHOP
Last Line: EVER TOUCHED EACH OTHER
Subject(s): ALCOHOLISM & ALCOHOLICS; DRUNKARDS; ALCOHOL ABUSE;

I met your husband in a bookshop.
His looks scared me shitless.

Yet I followed him everywhere.
Fear led to fascination.

He could measure the temperature
spectrum of stars,

outdrink Faulkner and Hemingway
together, fit perfect the shield

around a berth hawser
to keep out rats.

He claimed ancestors
among the Catawba and Shawnee.

To work a spell,
he would release their spirits

from a leather pouch.
But I guess he was right about me.

And I'm sorry you and I
ever touched each other.


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



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