Where once I loved my flesh, That social fellow, Now I want security of bone And cherish the silence of my skeleton. Where once I walked the world Hunting the devil, Now I find the darkness and the void Within my side. First to be good, then to be happy I Worked and prayed. Before the midnight, like the foul fiend, I killed my dear friend. Hope unto hope, dream beyond monstrous dream I sought the world. Now, at the black pitch and midnight of despair, I find it was always here. 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...DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON by HENRY LYNDEN FLASH NIGHT AND DAY by SIDNEY LANIER THE WEATHER-COCK POINTS SOUTH by AMY LOWELL THE WHITE CITY by CLAUDE MCKAY MAN, THE MAN-HUNTER by CARL SANDBURG PICTURE-SHOW by SIEGFRIED SASSOON |