"Willis
Barnstone has been appointed a
special to bring 'the other' to
our attention, to show how it is
done. He illuminates the spirit
for us and he clarifies the
unclarifiable. . . I think he does
it by beating his wings." —Gerald
Stern
Vagrant
If I had not been a half-ass
scholar (in Indonesia
the taxi driver called me
guru),
I think homeless would be a proper
job for me.
I follow the way now from month to
month,
changing beds. I don't want to be
a vagrant
yet you see me going out, hopping
from door to door,
asking alms, a stranger at home
with blank windows in a desolate
neighborhood
where I stroll in light too bright
to raise my eyes
above the children's hopscotch
chalky on the sidewalk,
their drawings grinning at my
happy ruin.
© BOA Editions, Ltd 2003
Available editions:
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Paperback
ISBN: 1-929918-36-4
Price: $13.95
Publishing Date: August 2003
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