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More poems by John BerrymanJohn Berryman | Print this page.Print | Order a PoetryNotes Analysis of this poem.Analysis | View and Write CommentsComments

Dream Song 135: I heard said 'Cats that walk by their wild lone'

John Berryman

I heard said 'Cats that walk by their wild lone'
but Henry had need of friends. They disappeared
Shall I follow my dream?
Clothes disappeared in a backward sliding, zones
shot into view, pocked, exact & weird:
who is what he seem?

I will tell you now a story about Speck:
after other cuts, he put the knife in her eye,
one of the eight: 
he was troubled, missionary: and Whitman 
of the tower murdered his wife & mother
before (mercy-killings) he set out.

Not every shot went in. But most went in:
in just over an hour
with the tumor thudding in his brain
he killed 13, hit 33:
his empty father said he taught him to respect guns
(not persons).

Added: 5 Aug 2002 | Last Read: 5 Sep 2008 8:28 PM | Viewed: 2202 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/5715/ | Viewed on 5 September 2008.
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