Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio

[rainebm1185.livejournal.com]

by James Wright

In the Shreve High football stadium,
I think of Polacks nursing long beers in Tiltonsville,
And gray faces of Negroes in the blast furnace at Benwood,
And the ruptured night watchman of Wheeling Steel,
Dreaming of heroes.

All the proud fathers are ashamed to go home.
Their women cluck like starved pullets,
Dying for love.

Therefore,
Their sons grow suicidally beautiful
At the beginning of October,
And gallop terribly against each other's bodies.

Comments

[moireach.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite fall poems! Can you please edit the post to include James Wright's name? Thanks.

[rainebm1185.livejournal.com]

yeah, woops. sorry, i didn't realize i forgot that part.

[iatrogenicmyth.livejournal.com]

I adore this poem. My other favorite of his:

"A Blessing"

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tersely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the
darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

[aimlesswanderer.livejournal.com]

I love this!

./w

[rainebm1185.livejournal.com]

me too. i heard them play his recitation on the college station around here. made me happy.

[glass-doll.livejournal.com]

thats so poignant.

im going to hav eto repost

good find