Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A REDOLENCE FOR NIMS by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: O TRIPLE SOB - TURNED FORTY
Last Line: BACK MY HEART ALIVE.
Subject(s): AGING; SELF-PITY;

O triple sob -- turned forty
at midnight -- body at dawn
booze-soddened but hopeful,
knowing that the only thing
to remember is dreams.
Dead clear zero, Sunday afternoon
in an attic of a closed resort
on Lake Michigan with one lone
duck riding the diminishing
swells of yesterday's storm
against the snowy cliffs of North Manitou:
Whom are we to love?
How many and what for?
My heart's gone to sea for years.
This is a prayer, plaint, wish,
howl of void beneath breastbone.
Dreams, soul chasers, bring
back my heart alive.



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