Alien
Alien
The winter trees replied
when the wind questioned them
but no words I understood nor
did they speak to me.
The barn humped its back
against the low sun and
threw a shadow across my path.
Melting snow trickled past
a manure pile, stained
the edge of drifts and a rat
busy in corn spilled from
the broken side of a crib
made the solitude bearable
as if to say the lesson learned
from hard facts should teach me
the consolation of hunger.
Publication Details
Original Citation
Harper's Bazaar (June 1970) 36.
Word Count
83
Original Publication
Date Published
1970
Book Appearance
Complete Poems
363
Re-publication
Voyages to the Inland Sea II 44.
Notes and Commentary