Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GEO-BESTIARY: 26 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: IN MONTANA THE BADGER LOOKS AT ME IN FEAR
Last Line: HIS THICKET, HIS SECRET ROOM IN HIS POWERFUL CLAWS.
Subject(s): ANIMALS; BADGERS; DEATH; DEAD, THE;

In Montana the badger looks at me in fear
and buries himself where he stood
in the soft sandy gravel
only moments ago. I have to think
it's almost like our own deaths
assuming we had the wit to save money
by digging our own graves or gathering
the wood for the funeral pyre.
But then the badger does it to stay alive, carrying
his thicket, his secret room in his powerful claws.



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