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A couple of old strange poems.

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I think most poets,
when they retain

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any affection for
their early work,

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probably like the poems best
that they understand least,

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that they haven't, in some
way, hopefully outgrown.

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These are two odd
poems, very short ones.

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First is entitled "Fox."

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Nijinsky is mentioned
it, and Nijinsky

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was a Russian ballet dancer
who was-- purported, could

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seem to be able to hold himself,
momentarily suspend himself,

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in the air in his leaps.

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He died.

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He went mad before he died.

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One of the aspects
of his madness-- this

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isn't mentioned in the poem.

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It's just gossip.

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It was-- he imagined
that there was cut glass

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all over the floor so
that he couldn't walk,

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which is strange, poetic
form of madness for a dancer.

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"Fox."

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Fox, eyes red,
stands on the rocks,

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puts his long head down to
the lake, drinks cold oil.

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Overhead, the jets
wheel and go to sea.

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Fox is thoughtful,
an indifferent ear.

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If he listens, he hears
Wing Commander Joe

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shift in the dark electronics.

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Nijinsky, the wind
whispers on the wings.

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Where are you now,
the radar sings.

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See, it doesn't mean
anything that's why it's--

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[LAUGHS] retained
an affection for it.

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World War II.

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Now the soldiers grow
shorter, marching

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into their mother's wombs.

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Korea sleeps.

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The thresher turns on its side.

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Many sailors have come
home unrecognizably older.

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In the Arctic, Nansen
still eats soup.

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Under his fire, the
ice clears to glass.

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He trusts himself.

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