Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NORTH, by JAMES HARRISON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The rising sun not beet Last Line: To this downward dance. Alternate Author Name(s): Harrison, Jim Subject(s): Nature; Prayer | ||||||||
The mind of which we are unaware is aware of us. - R. D. LAING The rising sun not beet or blood, but sea-rose red. I amplified my heartbeat one thousand times; the animals at first confused, then decided I was another thunder being. While talking directly to god my attention waxed and waned. I have a lot on my mind. I worked out to make myself as strong as water. After all these years of holding the world together I let it roll down the hill into the river. One tree leads to another, walking on this undescribed earth. I have dreamed myself back to where I already am. On a cold day bear, coyote, cranes. On a rainy night a wolf with yellow eyes. On a windy day eleven kestrels looking down at me. On a hot afternoon the ravens floated over where I sunk myself in the river. Way out there in unknown country I walked at night to scare myself. Who is this other, the secret sharer, who directs the hand that twists the heart, the voice calling out to me between feather and stone the hour before dawn? Somehow I have turned into an old brown man in a green coat. Having fulfilled my obligations my heart moves lightly to this downward dance. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNHOLY SONNET 11 by MARK JARMAN LISTEN, LORD: A PRAYER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON A PRAYER FOR THE FUTURE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) DIFFERENT WAYS TO PRAY by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE PRAYER DURING A TIME MY SON IS HAVING SEIZURES by SHARON OLDS WE WHO PRAYED AND WEPT by WENDELL BERRY PRAYERS AND SAYINGS OF THE MAD FARMER by WENDELL BERRY THE IDEA OF BALANCE IS TO BE FOUND IN HERONS AND LOONS by JAMES HARRISON |
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