Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEING AND BECOMING, by CLARENCE MAJOR



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEING AND BECOMING, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The parking lot was


The parking lot was
full of cars full
of dead babies and
thousands of court summonses.
Then is now.
I squat in the lot,
looking at myself
in the hubcaps' silver.
Oh dear, beneath the bright
artificial lights nothing
is simple or clear.
I see and see myself
in the pigmented tinsel
and the yellow chrome! --
and trust what I see.
I felt sure of myself --
was able to approach
my own alloy-plated
identity! -- that great
American wasteland! --
with some sense
of chronic calm!
And I stood up and
cupped my eyes
peering into
the nearest car
and after that
I gazed at them all
car by car
till I understood that
each infant death was my own.


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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