William Matthews Light Poems
- 1. A Small Room In Aspen
Stains on the casements,
dustmotes, spiderless webs.
No chairs, and a man waking up,
or he's falling asleep
... - 2. Eyes
the only parts of the body the same
size at birth as they'll always be.
'That's why all babies are beautiful,'
Thurber used to say as he grew
... - 3. A Happy Childhood
My mother stands at the screen door, laughing.
â??Out out damn Spot,â? she commands our silly dog.
I wonder what this means. I rise into adult air
... - 4. A Walk
February on the narrow beach, 3o
A.M. I set out south. Cape Cod Light
on its crumbling cliff above me turns
its wand of light so steadily
... - 5. Bedtime
Usually I stay up late, my time
alone. Tonight at 9o I can tell
I'm only awake long enough
to put my sons to bed.
... - 6. On The Porch At The Frost Place, Franconia, N. H.
So here the great man stood,
fermenting malice and poems
we have to be nearly as fierce
against ourselves as he
... - 7. A Roadside Near Ithaca
Here we picked wild strawberries,
though in my memory we're neither here
nor missing. Or I'd scuff out
by myself at dusk, proud
...
