the rising, falling, rollicking –
what is american, what is american
literature: they sit on stools,
with feet tucked, crossed
at the ankles, girls with milkshake
smiles, whipped-cream eyes –
they are the Far and Away, glory
falling like boys in foreign
fields, writing home
writing mothers – i miss you
i love you, i will be back.
the people reading the books
have missed it all:
there was hate but also
such mad and
beautiful life.
poem: the critical reading of innocents
the last pavilion 