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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BILL'S by CLARENCE MAJOR

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WITH DEFECTIVE THYROID GLANDS

With defective thyroid glands,
I got up early --
no communication last night
with your ghost
but I dreamt of flint sickles.
Black, we know the cemetery.
Lot of land around here.
Boy down the hill arrested
in the process of his growth.
Don't know his name.
I'm here for only three days.
Locked myself out --
meant only to take in morning air.
But had to make do with the facts.
Necrosis in the tips of my fingers.
River down there and the yellow cat
followed me down across the tracks.
I sat on a rock alongside the water.
Dow Chemical across on the other side
with train tracks going there.
But I'm on this side looking way the other way
till Bill wakes and unlocks the door.


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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