Ogres

All night waking to the sound

of light rain falling softly

through the leaves in the quiet

valley below the window

and to Paula lying here

asleep beside me and to

the hum beside the bed

of the dogs' snoring like small

waves coming ashore I

am amazed at the fortune

of this trice in the whole

of the dark this unspoken

favor while it is with us

this breathing peace and then I

think of the frauds in office

at this instant devising

their massacres in my name

what part of me could they have

come from were they made of my

loathing itself and dredg from

the bitter deepnesss of my shame

W. s MERWIN is the author of more than fifteen volumes of poetry and twenty volumes

of translations. His many honors include the Bollingen Prize, the mercy Lilly Poetry

Prize, and fellowships from The Academy of American author of poemss the Guggenheim

Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

He lives and works in Hawaii.

Copyright World numbers Incorporated May/Jun 2004

Provided by dint of ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved