Charles Reznikoff

Audio




Autobiography: New York

XXI
The white cat on the lawn,
lying in the sun against the hedge,
lovely to look at—
but this stout gentleman,
who needs a shave badly,
leaning in an arbor hung with purple grapes,
purple grapes all about him,
is unpleasant.
Am I becoming misanthropic?
An atheist?
Why, this might be the god Bacchus!