james wright | four poems

PoetryDispatch No. 326 | July 13, 2010

Four Poems by JAMES WRIGHT

ARRIVING IN THE COUNTRY AGAIN

The white house is silent.
My friends can’t hear me yet.
The flicker who lives in the bare tree at the
field’s edge
Pecks once and is still for a long time.
I stand still in the late afternoon.
My face is turned away from the sun.
A horse grazes in my long shadow.

TRYING TO PRAY

This time, I have left my body behind me, crying
In its dark thorns.
Still,
There are good things in this world.
It is dusk.
It is the good darkness
Of women’s hands that touch loaves.
The spirit of a tree begins to move.
I touch leaves.
I close my eyes, and think of water.

IN THE COLD HOUSE

I slept a few minutes ago,
Even though the stove has been out for hours.
I am growing old.
A bird cries in bare elder trees.

TODAY I WAS SO HAPPY, SO I MADE THIS POEM

As the plump squirrel scampers
Across the roof of the corncrib,
The moon suddenly stands up in the darkness,
And I see that it is impossible to die.
Each moment of time is a mountain.
An eagle rejoices in the oak trees of heaven,
Crying
This is what I wanted.

[from: THE BRANCH WILL NOT BREAK, Wesleyan University Press, 1963].

Limited miniature edition of this beloved collection. In celebration of fifty years of publishing, Wesleyan University Press is pleased to present a special miniature edition of this best-selling volume of poetry by James Wright. Originally published in 1963, The Branch Will Not Break was one of the first volumes of poetry published by Wesleyan. The entire book is reproduced in this appealing small format. Click the cover above if you are interested in buying this book.

This is the full-sized paperback edition. Click the cover above if you are interested in buying this book.

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