Poem
C.K. Williams
FIRE
FIRE
FIRE
An ax-shatteredbedroom window
the wall above
still smutted with
soot the wall
beneath still
soiled with
soak and down
on the black
of the pavement
a mattress its ticking
half eaten away
the end where
the head would
have been with
a nauseous bite
burnt away
and beside it
an all at once
meaningless heap
of soiled sodden
clothing one
shoe a jacket
once white
the vain matters
a life gathers
about it symbols
of having once
cried out to itself
who art thou?
then again who
wouldst thou be?
© 2005, C.K. Williams
From: Poetry, Vol. 186, No. 5, September
Publisher: Poetry, Chicago
From: Poetry, Vol. 186, No. 5, September
Publisher: Poetry, Chicago
Poems
Poems of C.K. Williams
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FIRE
An ax-shatteredbedroom window
the wall above
still smutted with
soot the wall
beneath still
soiled with
soak and down
on the black
of the pavement
a mattress its ticking
half eaten away
the end where
the head would
have been with
a nauseous bite
burnt away
and beside it
an all at once
meaningless heap
of soiled sodden
clothing one
shoe a jacket
once white
the vain matters
a life gathers
about it symbols
of having once
cried out to itself
who art thou?
then again who
wouldst thou be?
From: Poetry, Vol. 186, No. 5, September
FIRE
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