Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AFTER IKKYU: 35 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: EVERYWHERE I GO I STUDY THE SCARS ON EARTH'S FACE
Last Line: GOLD & COPPER TO BUY THE HORSE THAT DIED, THE WOMAN WHO LEFT.
Subject(s): DEATH; DEAD, THE;
Everywhere I go I study the scars on earth's face,
including rivers and lakes. I'm not playing God
but assessing intent. In the Patagonia Mountains
you think, "small mines, pathetic deaths." In Cabeza Prieta
men boiled in their own blood, ground temperature 170°
Contrails of earthen scar-tissue stink of sulfur.
Gold & copper to buy the horse that died, the woman who left.



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