by James Wright

    Nightfall， that saw the morning-glories float

    Tendril and string against the crumbling¹ wall，

    Nurses him now， his skeleton for grief，

    His locks for comfort curled among the leaf.

    Shuttles of moonlight weave his shadow tall，

    Milkweed and dew flow upward to his throat.

    Now catbird feathers plume² the apple mound³，

    And starlings drowse to winter up the ground.

    thickened away from speech by fear， I move

    Around the body.  Over his forepaws， steep

    Declivities darken down the moonlight now，

    And the long throat that bayed a year ago

    Declines from summer.  Flies would love to leap

    Between his eyes and hum away the space

    Between the ears， the hollow where a hare

    Could hide； another jealous dog would tumble

    The bones apart， angry， the shining crumble⁴

    Of a great body gleaming in the air；

    Quivering pigeons foul⁵ his broken face.

    I can imagine men who search the earth

    For handy resurrections， overturn

    The body of a beetle⁶ in its grave；

    Whispering men digging for gods might delve⁷

    A pocket for these bones， then slowly burn

    Twigs⁸ in the leaves， pray for another birth.

    But I will turn my face away from this

    Ruin of summer， collapse⁹ of fur and bone.

    For once a white hare huddled¹⁰ up the grass，

    The sparrows flocked away to see the race.

    I stood on darkness， clinging to a stone，

    I saw the two leaping alive on ice，

    On earth， on leaf， humus and withered¹¹ vine：

    The rabbit splendid in a shroud¹² of shade，

    The dog carved on the sunlight， on the air，

    Fierce and magnificent his rippled¹³ hair，

    The cockleburs shaking around his head.

    Then， suddenly， the hare leaped beyond pain

    Out of the open meadow， and the hound

    Followed the voiceless dancer to the moon，

    To dark， to death， to other meadows where

    Singing young women dance around a fire，

    Where love reveres¹⁴ the living.

    I alone

    Scatter¹⁵ this hulk about the dampened ground；

    And while the moon rises beyond me， throw

    The ribs¹⁶ and spine¹⁷ out of their perfect shape.

    For a last charm to the dead， I lift the skull¹⁸

    And toss it over the maples¹⁹ like a ball.

    Strewn to the woods， now may that spirit sleep

    That flamed over the ground a year ago.

    I know the mole will heave a shinbone over，

    The earthworm snuggle for a nap on paws，

    The honest bees build honey in the head；

    The earth knows how to handle the great dead

    Who lived the body out， and broke its laws，

    Knocked down a fence， tore up a field of clover

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