Civilization by Gary Snyder
I finished Middlesex this morning and came across a reference to the poet Gary Snyder. Since I’d never heard of him, I went and found a poem of his to post.
Civilization
By Gary Snyder
Those are the people who do complicated things.
they’ll grab us by the thousands
and put us to work.
World’s going to hell, with all these
villages and trails.
Wild duck flocks aren’t
what they used to be.
Aurochs grow rare.
Fetch me my feathers and amber
*
A small cricket
on the typescript page of
“Kyoto born in spring song”
grooms himself
in time with The Well-Tempered Clavier.
I quit typing and watch him through a glass.
How well articulated! How neat!
Nobody understands the ANIMAL KINGDOM.
*
When creeks are full
The poems flow
When creeks are down
We heap stones.
