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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AFTER IKKYU: 19 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: TIME GETS FORESHORTENED LATE AT NIGHT
Last Line: IN MY ROOM. ONE BLINK, RED MOUNTAIN'S STILL THERE.
Subject(s): TIME;

Time gets foreshortened late at night.
Jesus died a few days ago, my father
and sister just before lunch. At dawn
I fished, then hoed corn. Married at midmorning,
wept for a second. We were poor momentarily
for a decade. Within a few minutes I made
a round trip to Paris. I drank and ate during a parade
in my room. One blink, Red Mountain's still there.



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