Books Are Not Men And Yet They

I Have Fallen In Love With American Names, The Sharp Names That Never Get Fat, The Snakeskin-titles Of Mining-claims, The Plumed War-bonnet Of Medicine Hat, Tucson And Deadwood And Lost Mule Flat.

When I Was In Graduate School, My Thesis Included Both Poetry And Essays. Influenced By The Personal Essays Of James Baldwin And Norman Mailer, I Loved The Form, But Pretty Much Stopped.

American Muse, Whose Strong And Diverse Heart So Many Men Have Tried To Understand But Only Made It Smaller With Their Art, Because You Are As Various As Your Land.

A Phrase May Come To Me As I Am Walking, And, Once I Write It Down In My Journal, The Rest Of The Poem Will Unravel From That Catalyst.

I Died In My Boots Like A Pioneer With The Whole Wide Sky Above Me.