Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AFTER IKKYU: 23 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: IT CERTAINLY WASN'T FISH WHO DISCOVERED WATER
Last Line: A BURNT-OUT LAMP WHO NEVER IMAGINED THE SUN.

It certainly wasn't fish who discovered water
or birds the air. Men built houses in part
out of embarrassment by the stars
and raised their children on trivialities
because they had butchered the god within themselves.
The politician standing on the church steps thrives
within the grandeur of this stupidity,
a burnt-out lamp who never imagined the sun.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net