James Tate




Poem

Language was almost impossible in those days
as we know it now and then.

When you tell me about your operation
I hear you, but I don’t hear you.

Wind gathers behind a barn:
torches are lit, men whisper.

One wears a hat and is very serious
about the war in his bedroom.

“Does it seem like I am sleeping all the time?”
Ask me another question.

Look, Ma, I found something beautiful today
out in the forest, it’s still alive…